A Long Time Coming
by dinokieran
Summary: Korra and Asami: two childhood friends once thought to be inseparable. But, as life changes, so do people, and the pair inevitably drift apart. After many years of self-discovery the pair will meet again but will they be able to truly accept the changes that have gone on in each other's lives? Or will they drift apart once more? Trans!Korra and Asami pairing. Modern Non-Bending AU
1. Meet the New Girl

_**A/N**_

 _ **So, this is my first time posting a fanfic in about… 6 years? So please bare with me. I really love these two, and I had this idea for a story floating around in my head for a long time.**_

 _ **I've read so many fanfics over the years, and I really wanted to see more stories including trans characters, and this pairing fit the bill exactly for me. Please don't take this as me trying to 'straighten' this couple, I adore them as a lesbian couple as well, but I really think this couple are perfect for one of them to be trans.**_

 _ **I really hope you enjoy it. And like I said, it's been years since I've been able to stretch my creative muscles like this, so please, if you see something out of place, don't be afraid to call me out on it. I'm out of practice and could really use any constructive criticism from the community.**_

 _ **Anyways, enough rambling, enjoy!**_

The clanging of a small, hand-held bell signalled to the children out on the playground that school had started. The students readily formed lines, each according to their class number.

Among those in class 4 stood a short, chubby 10 year old who was frantically trying to tame her frizzy hair back into the ponytail her mother had carefully tied up for her.

"Korra!"

The girl jumped, turning around just in time to see a blonde, freckled boy running over to her; he too, looked quite clearly disheveled. She shook her head.

"Alec! You almost missed the bell!" She announced, her eyes wide. Alec simply rolled his eyes.

"We haven't even started walking in yet; jeez! What are you, my mum?"

Korra pouted and poked the boy's cheek. "You know Mrs Windslow _hates_ it when you're late, I don't want you to get shouted at again."

This was true. As much as Korra loved to mess around and have fun with her friend, she was also acutely aware that he was treading on thin ice. The last time he had been late, Mrs Windslow had given him a week's worth of lunchtime detentions. It wasn't as if he could deny responsibility for being late either, his mum would always drop him off right on time, but he would often sneak off to the fields behind the school and play there instead. Korra had been tempted to join him many times, but, of course, Sod's law, the one time she _did_ she was caught red handed.

It wasn't the telling off from the teachers that had worried her, it was the disappointed looks she had received from her father that had made her truly guilty.

She didn't get to see much of him as he worked long hours, which only meant that when he did return she would always be ecstatic to see him. He meant the world to her. Just the mere thought of being a disappointment to him made her insides squirm with worry.

Her thoughts were disrupted by Alec giving her a friendly shove on the back.

"Wake up sleepyhead, we're walking in!" He said, a cheeky grin on his face. Korra blinked and realized he was, in fact, right. The line was moving off ahead of her, and she had to quickly run to catch up.

Once they were finally inside the classroom, she waved to Alec as he headed across the room to take a seat beside a group of boys who all seemed pleased to see him. Korra didn't mind though, she had other friends too. She grinned as her eyes settled on the friend in question. She hurried over, grinning broadly.

"Opal!" She exclaimed, causing the dark haired girl to jump a little in her seat. Once she discovered the identity of her caller, her lips spread into a wide smile and she almost bounced in her seat.

"Korra! Korra! Hi!" She squealed energetically. Korra sat beside her friend and pulled her into a hug.

"It's been ages!" She exclaimed. "How was Spain?"

Opal, her long time friend and - quite frankly - her honorary sister, had been gone for two weeks. Her parents had even pulled her out of school to go away on a family holiday, something Korra envied greatly; not just because her friend was allowed to skip school, but also because she had missed her like crazy. The two of them were like peas in a pod, rarely leaving the other's side.

Opal giggled, returning the hug eagerly. "Oh, it was awesome!" She said as she sat back in her seat "Look! I got a tan!" She held out her arms proudly; arms that had once been pale and milky were now a pale brown. Korra's eyes widened and she poked her friend's arm in surprise.

"You're almost as dark as me now!" She said with a grin, holding up her arm beside her friend's for a comparison. "...Well, almost. I still win." She said, sticking out her tongue playfully.

Opal pouted and folded her arms. "No faaaiir~" She whined, sticking out her tongue in response. "One day I'll beat you!" Korra blew a raspberry in her friend's direction, but quickly stopped when she spotted a Teacher's Assistant - more commonly known as a T.A - eyeing her, one eyebrow raised. She and Opal looked at each other, then burst into fits of giggles. Sure, they were usually well behaved, but it couldn't hurt to have a little fun sometimes, right?

Soon the sound of Mrs Windslow's voice cut through the classroom chatter. She clapped her hands and cleared her throat.

"Good morning children." She said loudly, clasping her hands together.

"Good morning Mrs Windlow" the class replied in unison, some of them less enthusiastically than others.

The tall middle aged woman continued on. "Now, I want you all to get out your spelling books, we will be having another spelling test this afternoon, and I want you all to brush up on this week's words." A few students grumbled and muttered to themselves, but eventually the whole class had fished out their books from their bookbags and began reading through the list they had been given at the beginning of the week.

Korra sighed to herself as she got out her book, only opening it to the right page for show before turning to Opal.

"I'm guessing you don't have to do this one?" She asked, to which Opal grinned and nodded.

"I only got back yesterday, so I get a free pass this week." She said, sticking out her tongue _yet again_ , which warranted a pout from Korra. The dark-haired girl then she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "I don't know why you're complaining, you always get them all right... you're like, a genius or something!"

Korra shrugged, a smug grin crossing her face. "Yeah, that's why it's so boring." She said, rolling her eyes and turning them back to the book in front of her.

It was true, she did always get them all right, but not because she studied them or anything like that, since she didn't; she had just developed a simple yet effective strategy.

The tests would always be carried out on the next full two pages of their book, so all Korra had to do was ensure that the words were written on the left hand page, so that when she turned to the next one to begin the test, all she had to do was push the paper down hard enough so that the words would be somewhat visible. Then all she had to do was copy them, but of course she had to ensure that she looked like she was thinking hard, as she didn't want to be found out.

That was the thing with Korra; sure, she misbehaved… a lot... but she hid it _very_ well under a guise of an angelic little girl who could do no wrong. As a result, if she _were_ to do something that would be seen as wrong, and hid it well enough, more often than not one of the boys would end up getting the blame for it. Sure, it was a somewhat worrying trait for an 8 year old to have, but effective nonetheless.

So, instead of studying the words in front of her, she reached into her pocket to pull out her new favourite toy: her tamagotchi. She glanced about, hoping that the slight hubbub of noise created by the other students would hide the bleeps and pings the little machine produced when played with.

So focused was she, that she failed to notice a change in the atmosphere of the classroom; it was only when Opal nudged her did she finally look up.

"What?" She asked, her tone somewhat irritated as her focus had been taken away from the tiny screen. Opal raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really that deaf? Look!" She said excitedly, pointing to the desk close to the front of the classroom. Korra followed her finger to find herself staring at someone who was completely unfamiliar to her. She looked back at Opal, then back to the unknown person.

"Erm..?"

Opal huffed. "Didn't you see? We've got a new person!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly.

Korra looked back across the room to find that, yes indeed, the kid across the room from them was dressed in their school's uniform.

She was tall and slim, with dark black hair that drastically contrasted her porcelain white skin. Currently, she was seated alone, and clearly very nervous about her current situation. Her eyes were focused directly onto the desk in front of her, her hands clasped together tightly.

Korra removed her gaze from the girl back to Opal, who was beaming.

"You know what that means, right!?" She said, clapping her hands together excitedly.

Korra sighed. "You mean the rule… right?" She replied flatly, clearly unimpressed by the whole situation.

'The rule' was something that was unspoken, but held a lot of meaning with the students. Not many students transferred mid-way through a year, so when they did, it was always seen as a challenge to see who could befriend the new student first. Korra never bothered, however, as in her mind she had enough friends; why use up all that energy?

Opal nodded. "Yes!" She squeaked. " _And_ it's a girl! So most of the boys won't try! I might stand a chance!"

Korra huffed. "You don't _need_ any more friends, you have _me._ " She said, folding her arms grumpily. Opal playfully pushed her friend's shoulder.

"Aww come on, don't be such a meanie Korra! You know you'll always be my best friend, right? I just wanna, you know, make some more friends sometimes. Come ooon, pleaase?"

Korra looked over to see her friend pouting again, her eyes wide and watery. This was a tactic she used a lot on Korra, and it almost always worked.

Korra sighed. "okaaaay, fiiine." She said, only to be hugged tightly around the neck by an overly-enthusiastic Opal.

"Yay! Thank yoooou!" Her friend squealed, causing Korra to roll her eyes. Opal sat back and grinned. "If she's my friend, she'll be your friend too! I won't leave you behind, promise." She said, an honest smile gracing her lips.

Korra knew she meant it, despite her own stubborn outlook. Opal had always been there for her through thick and thin. She trusted her.

Returning the smile she nodded, pushing her friend in return "I know. I know." She said warmly. "You're never getting rid of me."

Opal giggled. "Yeah… I didn't think I could."

The two swatted at each other playfully before focusing back on their books.

Break time eventually rolled around and found that Korra had sat herself on the grass verge at the edge of the playground, tucking in to a packet of crisps she had managed to grab from her family's snack cupboard. She was shoving another handful into her mouth when she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.

"Korra!" She looked up to see Opal hurring over to her, her hand firmly grasping onto that of the new girl from before. She looked like she was being practically dragged along behind the over-excitable girl, but she was smiling this time at least… albeit nervously.

Opal finally reached the seated girl, grinning widely. "Korra, this is Asami. Asami, this is my best friend in the whole wide world..." She said, turning to the pale girl and gesturing to Korra in a dramatic fashion. "Korra!"

There was silence for a few seconds, then Asami raised a hand mealy and gave a shy wave.

"Hi..." She said, her tone soft and quiet as her green eyes met Korra's blue ones.

Korra blinked, then swallowed her mouthful of crisps. "Hi." She replied, returning the wave awkwardly. She wasn't the best at making new friends, despite how confident she often appeared.

Opal beamed, bouncing up and down happily. "Yay! We can all be friends now!" She turned to Asami. "I'm gonna go get my lunch box, you sit with Korra, 'kay?"

The pale girl barely had time to reply before Opal skipped off, singing happily to herself.

Left by themselves, the pair exchanged awkward glances for what seemed like ages. Eventually, Asami took a step forward, smiling shyly. "So... can I sit here?" She asked, gesturing to the patch of grass beside Korra. The dark-skinned girl nodded, her mouth already full again with crisps.

"Yeah, it'sh ok." She replied with her mouth full.

Asami smiled a little before sitting beside Korra, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Korra glanced over at her, and instantly felt bad. She was clearly very nervous about being in a brand new school, and here she was giving her the silent treatment.

She swallowed her crisps and cleared her throat, deciding she should at least try to cheer this girl up. She was awkward but not heartless, after all.

"Sorry about Opal..." She said, looking over at the girl beside her. "She can be a little… you know." She said, waving her arms around a bit for emphasis.

Asami smiled and shook her head. "It's okay." She replied, fiddling with the collar of her jumper. "If she hadn't come say hi, I would probably still be sitting in the classroom alone." She looked over at Korra. "So… you're her best friend, huh?"

Korra grinned and nodded. "Best friend ever. Her mum and my mum are like, best friends too." This was true. Almost every weekend her mum would take her over to Opal's house, where she and Sun, Opal's mum, would spend most of their time chatting over coffee while Korra and Opal ran riot. She loved it there. Sure, Opal's twin brothers were a pain sometimes, but they eventually learned to leave her alone.

Asami let out a soft giggle. "Wow, I wish I had friends like that." She replied softly, her smile dropping and a sigh leaving her lips.

Korra glanced over at her, feeling that pang of guilt rise again. She reached out and patted Asami on the shoulder in a somewhat awkward fashion. "Hey, you're gonna make friends here, I'm sure of it." She replied with a grin.

Asami looked up at her. "You think so?"

"Well, yeah..." Korra replied, chuckling a little. "Now Opal likes you, you're stuck with her, and she and I are stuck together like glue so you're gonna have to deal with me too."

Asami's eyes widened. "You mean, you want to be friends?"

Korra smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Even though she had been hesitant at first with meeting someone new, Korra could honestly say she liked Asami. She was quiet, polite and clearly very shy about making new friends. Korra could relate. After all, she had basically stuck by Opal's side her whole life and never dared talking to anyone else besides Alec, so maybe this would be good for her too.

She grinned at the pale girl beside her as Opal came scurrying back, a small bag of sliced apples in hand. She glanced between the two girls and beamed.

"You guys friends now?" She asked, looking over at Korra with a grin on her face. Korra raised an eyebrow; so _this_ was her game… leave the two of them together to make them become friends. Opal was clearly a lot cleverer than she gave her credit for.

Regardless, she smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we're friends, right Asami?" She asked, turning to the pale girl beside her. Asami nodded, a genuine smile on her face this time.

"Yeah, we're friends."

Clearly, saying that had a lot of meaning to Asami, as her eyes almost lit up when she said it. Opal grinned.

"Yay! Cool! You wanna sit with us in class now? There's a free seat."

Asami shyly nodded, looking over at Korra with a smile on her face. Korra returned it.

"It'll be great to have someone else to talk to, she can get a bit annoying sometimes." She said, pretending to whisper as she gestured to Opal, who pouted and swatted at her.

"Hey! I'm amazing!" She protested, causing Korra to laugh loudly as she responded to the swats with some of her own.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down, I'm joking."

Opal whined and folded her arms, preparing a response, but was interrupted by the sound of the bell.

Korra groaned and stood up, brushing the crumbs off of her skirt and throwing the empty packet of crisps in the nearby bin.

"Time to go back, I guess." She said, turning to Asami with a smile. "You coming?"

The taller girl nodded, standing up, and to Korra's surprise, took her hand in hers.

"Yeah" she replied, smiling warmly this time.

Korra returned the smile, ignoring Opal's protests as she grabbed hold of her other free hand and began to lead them back to the classroom.

This day had certainly gotten off to an interesting start.

 _ **So there you go! First chapter! I've already got the second one in the works, but before I polish that off I'd really appreciate feedback on this one.**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for reading. See you in the next chapter!**_


	2. Childish Games

**As promised, here's chapter 2! Hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for the reviews and don't forget to give me feedback on this next chapter.**

 **Happy Reading!**

Throughout the following weeks, the bond between the three girls grew stronger. As Asami gradually came out of her shell, it was clear that she had righteous head on her shoulders and quickly became the quiet voice of reason for the two other girls. Whenever Opal or Korra would find themselves on the brink of a situation that could very well get them in trouble, Asami would quickly and quietly reel them back in, out of harm's way.

She was also incredibly intelligent; out-competing most of her fellow students to reach top of the class. She wasn't egotistical about it though, in fact she was quiet humble and always went out of her way to tutor others when they were struggling. The one who ended up needing most of her assistance turned out to be Korra… but she was always a little resistant to her offers of support. Sure, she _needed_ Asami's help a lot of the time, but that didn't mean she was going to _say_ she needed it.

Despite her loving and carefree nature, she would often tend to come across as too proud to ask for help. She had done just fine on her own up until this point, why try harder now?

Asami, always the caring and persistent sort, would always find away to get past Korra's pride to a point where the dark skinned girl would relent and 'allow' her new friend to give her the advice she needed.

Opal of course would poke fun at the pair and playfully comment on how Asami had originally been her friend, but now had in fact gravitated towards Korra. She was always met by many a pout and shove from her best friend, but it was all in jest.

However, despite Asami's growing confidence, she still wasn't completely at home at the new school just yet; there were many aspects of the establishment that she still had yet to experience and get used to.

A perfect example of this was soon presenting itself, in the form of the Headmaster informing the students at a school assembly that, as the weather was finally starting to warm up, that the larger playing fields alongside the school were now officially open to the students during lunchtimes.

Opal and Korra, of course, were ecstatic. Asami….less so. She shyly voiced her opinion as the trio walked with the rest of the line back to their classroom.

"Do we really have to go and play all the way out there..?" She asked, rubbing her hands together nervously. She liked what they had already: sitting together on the grassy verge and eating their lunch together, followed by her watching her two friends dash around engaging in the usual playground games while she herself had her nose buried in a book.

Korra looked over at her and snorted, shaking her head "Asami, really, you haven't experienced TRUE fun until you've played out on the field!"

Opal joined in, a wide grin on her face "yeah! There's so much space and you get to run around and climb the trees-!" She frowned "well, you're not _supposed_ to climb the trees, but Korra and I do it anyway!"

Asami glanced between the two of them before replying "okay.. I guess." She hesitated "I just like how things are, you know? We have a set thing we do and it's erm… good for me...?"

Korra couldn't help but roll her eyes playfully "you're always thinking about order Asami, just learn to let go for a little bit, yeah?" She grinned and ruffled the taller girl's hair, causing the girl in question to let out a whine as she tried to reorganize her now tousled black locks.

Asami pouted, an indignant expression crossing her face at Korra's actions, but as soon as she looked over and met the gaze of her friend's blue orbs, she felt herself relax slightly. There was something about Korra that made her feel at ease; which definitely had come as a surprise. The two were as different as chalk and cheese, yet it was like that difference enabled them to get along so well; a yin and yang if you will.

With a sigh she relented "okay, I'll try" she replied, still a little miffed at the current state of her hair.

Korra grinned "that's the spirit!" She replied warmly and gave the pale girl a hug; Opal joining in rather too enthusiastically and causing the three of them to almost topple over.

This caused the line of students behind them to come to a sudden halt, warranting one of the members of staff to walk up the line and find the cause of the commotion.

"Girls!" She exclaimed, her arms folded "this supposed to be an orderly line, please refrain from holding up the other students. Playing is reserved for the playground only."

Asami was quick to dip her head and give a quiet apology, while the other two just grinned widely "sorry miss!" They chanted out in unison. The T.A. huffed and returned to her place further down the line, leaving the trio to sort themselves out and begin walking once more. Opal and Korra giggled to themselves "pfft, what an old fart" Korra whispered to Opal before attempting a rather amusing attempt to imitate the adult; crossing her arms and giving her friends a rather comical looking glare. "Like for real? 'Playing is reserved for the playground only' well _sorry_ , geez!"

Asami opened her mouth with the intention of preventing her friend from continuing her little charade, but the look of Korra's face was just too funny. She couldn't help but let out a little giggle and shook her head; something the other to girls were quick to pick up on. "What's this? Asami thinks you taking the mick of a teacher is funny?" Opal said, giving a loud mock gasp and clasping her hands over her mouth "you've broken her!" She said as she turned to Korra who also had a surprised expression on her face; an expression that quickly changed to smugness as she looped an arm around Asami's neck and attempted once more to ruffle her hair "this is just the first step!" She announced proudly "soon you'll be just like me Asami, like it or not."

She blew a raspberry at Asami who was once again trying to prevent her from messing up her hair again. However this time the dark haired girl was prepared. She turned to meet Korra's gaze, raising an eyebrow "no way, I'm too good for that" she said with another giggle, causing Korra's eyebrows to shoot up and Opal to let out a loud "ooooo!"

Asami noticed Korra might not have taken her retort as she had intended it (she was still learning to give comebacks after all) and gave the shorter girl a pat on the head "I'm kidding I'm kidding" she said softly, a grin still spread across her face. She did honestly admire the other girl immensely… not that she would tell her that; Korra's ego was so easily inflated she had quickly discovered it was best to keep those thoughts to herself.

Thankfully, Korra just gave her a toothy grin. Clearly she had just been caught off-guard by the sudden statement but recovered quickly, giving her own quick response "you may say that, but the changes have already begun" she said, clasping her hands together in a very villain-esque way, a smug smile on her face. Asami just rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore her for now.

As much as she would refuse to admit it, Asami couldn't help but agree that Korra was right. There was a time when she wouldn't even have the backbone to put forward a contrasting opinion to anyone, and yet here she was giving quick retorts without fear of embarrassment.

The two of them continued to banter back and forth as they continued their walk back to class, with Opal adding in the occasional witty remark as and when she could.

The rest of the day went on without any further hitches, much to Asami's relief, and eventually the bell sounded announcing that the time for lunch had arrived.

As part of the older group of students, the three girls were able to enjoy lunch away from the insanity that were the younger classes. Asami had been pretty relieved at that, she'd never been good with dealing with large groups of people, especially when they were that much younger than her. Korra and Opal on the other hand were just very smug about things. It was clear that the pair of them saw this early lunch as something that bettered them from the younger classes, or as Korra called them 'the underlings'. This was all in good humour of course, Korra didn't have a bad bone in her body.

This time however the two of them didn't want to spend as much time taking advantage of their earlier lunch as before, as they were both eager to finally go out and enjoy the sunshine properly.

When that time came and all three had finished, Asami followed hesitantly behind the duo. She hadn't had time to grab herself a book, but Korra had insisted she wouldn't have time to read anyway. The field was for playing on, not sitting and reading on.

"So… where abouts are we going?" Asami asked curiously as they rounded a corner. Opal grinned and pointed ahead of them "just there, where that bunch of trees are!"

Asami looked up, finally taking her eyes off of the ground at her feet to take in the field in its entirety.

It was huge, intimidatingly so, bordered with a high fence and a long line of freshly planted hedging. At one end was a large jungle gym that was already crowded with a plethora of students of all shapes and sizes; at the other end was the small copse of trees that Opal had pointed out to her.

Before she could speak again, Korra bolted past her.

"Race you there!" The dark skinned girl yelled, which prompted Opal to join in on the frantic sprint to the trees. Asami quickly realized she had been left no other option available to her, she eventually ran after the duo

"Wait for me!" She called out as she tried her best to keep up with them, but it was no use. She wasn't a very active person, preferring brain over brawn, and ended up arriving at her destination panting roughly. As she tried desperately to get her breath back, she looked up to see only Opal there, leaning against one of the trees.

Asami raised an eyebrow

"Where's Korra..?" She asked, confused, to which Opal just smirked. Above her there was the sound of rustling leaves and, before she could even look up, Korra's face appeared in front of her, upside down with a silly grin on her face.

"Boo!" Korra exclaimed with a giggle. Asami let out a squeal of fright and fell backwards, landing on her backside with a thump.

Quickly Korra lifted herself up so she was sitting upright on the branch, kicking her legs as she looked down at Asami with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Hah! Gotcha!" She said, beginning to laugh which Opal joined in. It soon died down however when Korra hopped down out of the tree and walked over to Asami, holding out a hand and offering her assistance.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist" she said, still grinning broadly "you're always so serious all the time, you need to lighten up! Have a little fun!"

Asami pouted as she took her friends hand and finally stood up, brushing herself down.  
"I DO have fun!" She insisted, still pouting.

Korra sighed "maybe, but it's like, well..." she hesitated "reading is like, a grown up thing that grown ups do to have fun, and we're not grown ups" she stood up straight and looked over at Opal who nodded in agreement.

"Not like that's a bad thing or anything!" She continued quickly "it's just that erm… have you ever just had kiddy fun? Like climbing a tree or just laughing at a word like poop because you think it's funny?"

Opal snorted with laughter, prompting Korra to gesture to her "see? Like that! Just being silly and stuff. You don't have to be serious all the time, that's for the grown ups to do, not us."

Asami hesitated, looking between the two other girls with a slight confused expression on her face. She thought for a moment… and had to agree she saw where they were coming from. Her mum had always encouraged her to go out and play and be a kid, but she'd always found it hard. Talking to new people was always a struggle for her, preferring instead to sit at home with a good book.

She sighed "I… I don't know" She confessed "I've never really had that many friends my age I don't think" this prompted the two other girls to stare at her in surprise for a moment, before Korra stepped forward and patted Asami on the shoulder affectionately. "Well, you have now, you've got us two and we're not going anywhere."

She stuck out her tongue and grinned "so, now we've cleared that up, it's time to start your um.. Ini.. initia..." she hesitated, clearly struggling to remember the word she was looking for.  
"Initiation!" Opal exclaimed in realization. Korra grinned and nodded "Yeah! Initiation… Wait, what does that mean again?"

Opal thought for a moment "I think it's like, when you want to bring someone new into a group and you wanna see who they are and stuff" she concluded.

Asami wanted to correct her on her definition, but she was honestly too intrigued, instead continuing the conversation.

"So, what do I have to do?" She said hesitantly. Korra chuckled

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad! We just wanna show you how people our age like to play and have fun" She grinned "and I know the perfect thing… Imaginary games!"

She took a dramatic pose as she said this, giving it a theme of importance. Opal jumped up and down, clapping her hands

"Yay! Oh oh! Can we play that one we always play?" She said with glee.

Asami looked confused "and this would be…?"

"Time travelling dinosaur hunters!" Announced Korra, striking yet another pose.

"An evil scientist has gone back in time and kidnapped dinosaurs, spreading them all through history. It's our job to go back and catch them and take them back to dinosaur times!"

Asami watched, seeing the two of them bouncing up and down with glee. She couldn't help but smile and tilt her head, clearly interested in finding out more. "And, how do we do that?" She asked.

Opal took over "The brother of the evil scientist contacts us and tells us we're his only hope, and he gives us special weapons to catch the dinosaurs and fight the bad guys!" She drew an imaginary weapon from behind her back, whirling it around her head "I got a super awesome grappling hook that helps me fly through the trees "

"And I got a pair of awesome swords that help me fight of the bad dinosaurs and the scientist's evil henchmen!" Korra said, whirling two imaginary swords around and making several ninja style kicks "Hi-Ya!"

Both of them looked over at Asami expectantly "What weapon do you want?" They both said, grinning widely.

Asami blinked, taken aback by the sudden dramatic show that had occurred before her.

"Are there… like rules or something?" She asked, which prompted Korra to sigh and roll her eyes.

"No you dummy, that's why it's called an imaginary game! Use your imagination!" She said, reaching over and knocking on Asami's head for emphasis.

"It can be anything you want, anything at all!"

"Anything huh..?" Asami said to herself, tapping her lip in thought. If she had to choose anything to go hunt dinosaurs with, what would it be?.

Then she had an idea "If we're time travelers, does that mean I could have a weapon that's from the future?"

The two other girls looked at each other wide-eyed "...I never thought of that" Korra said, her mind clearly blown, to which Opal agreed "but er.. Yeah! Future stuff is cool too!"

"Well then, in that case" Asami said, her eyes lighting up as ideas began to flood her mind "I want to have a lazer gun."

Korra and Opal stared at her in surprise, then Korra spoke "that… is so.. AWESOME!"

She said with a grin as she bounced over to Asami and patted her on the back "that's what I'm talking about! So you can like shoot it all 'pew pew!' Stay back dinos!" She made a motion of shooting a gun, rather enthusiastically.

Asami smiled "yeah! But instead of it being a gun I could have it as a glove to make it easier to hold?"

"I like it!" Opal said, joining in the conversation "how would you shoot it?"

"Erm..." Asami thought "like this?" She said, holding out one hand and grasping her wrist with the other, then making a few 'pew pew' sound effects. Looking over at the other girls she smiled nervously "is that okay..?"

Korra ruffled her hair again "'Samiii! You don't need to ask us what's okay and what's not okay! That's the whole point of imaginary games, you can be who you want to be, do what you want to do and it's just fun because there's no rules! You want a lazer glove thing, then have one! You could use it to stun the dinos and make them sleep so we can take them back to their homes!"

Asami went to re-organize her hair, then hesitated. No rules, be whoever you want to be, do what you want to do…

Her shy expression changed to one of warmth and happiness, her eyes twinkling with glee as she felt herself relaxing. She was going to be whoever she wanted to be. She was going to do whatever she wanted to do. And Korra and Opal weren't going to judge her for it.

' _Let's give this a go_ ' she said as she started grinning. "Okay, let's go!" She said "where are we going first?"

Opal beamed "we've got to go back to the times of Knights and rescue a dinosaur that they think is a dragon! But we've gotta wear disguises cause the henchmen are waiting for us."

Asami nodded, looking over at Korra who had the same smile on her face

"Alright, let's do this" she said decisively.

 _'_ _Time to be a kid, Asami.'_

 **So that's chapter 2 all wrapped up!**

 **If you're wondering where I got the idea for the imaginary adventure, it was actually a game I used to play with my friends back when I was a kid believe it or not; thought it'd be perfect for a story like this :)**

 **Don't forget to leave a review.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	3. Working Together

_**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. Guess that's what happens when you go on holiday and find the cottage you're staying in has no wifi. At all.**_

 _ **Anyways! This chapter is so long I decided to split it into two. If all goes well I should have the next chapter up tomorrow to make up for lost time.**_

 _ **Happy Reading!**_

"Ughhh... why are we doing this?" Korra whined, folding her arms and pouting.

Asami just sighed.

"We can't just draw it straight away, we need to _plan_! Or it'll be a mess." Korra didn't respond, instead letting out an irritated huff.

The project their teacher had given them that day was to design, what she called, 'The Car of The Future!'. It was meant to be a fun activity for the students that would encourage their creativity; also being told to work in pairs to improve their teamwork skills.

Despite their many protests, Opal had been taken away from the trio and made to work with another student, leaving Asami and Korra to work together, alone.

This had been a tactical move on the teacher's part; she knew the two of them were close friends, but she also knew that Asami was _always_ quick to correct Korra on her mistakes to keep her in line. However, keeping her in line was an understatement.

It had been two months since the dark haired girl had begun her friendship with Opal and Korra, causing her confidence to sky rocket tremendously. Korra especially had been a huge help in that; although unwittingly.

The dark skinned girl had, without realizing it, become incredibly attached to Asami and would find herself spending more and more time with her when she could, even turning down Alec's offers of energetic playground games to just sit with Asami and watch her read. The teachers had found it pretty bizarre that she was behaving so well… as usually when Korra went silent it meant the adults had to be on their guard, but not any more.

Asami, in turn, found it much easier to voice her opinion around Korra as she felt the shorter girl was now taking her seriously. It resulted in a bond between the two that had surprised many of the other students specifically due to their clear differences in personality.

At the current moment in time the pair of girls were seated at the back of the classroom, a large piece of paper in front of them alongside a variety of coloured pens and pencils.

Korra had been eager to get started on the drawing straight away, but Asami, ever the organiser, had gotten out a notepad and pen to begin writing down ideas for their imaginary vehicle.

Initially, Korra _had tried_ to be helpful, but she was quickly losing patience. With yet another huff, she picked up a nearby ruler and bent it back, balancing a small piece of rubber eraser on the end.

Looking around, she locked onto a target sitting a few desks in front of her and took aim, but suddenly she felt a pair of eyes on her. Slowly, she looked to her side to see Asami had noticed what she was doing and was now shooting her a look that made Korra quail. With a gulp she gently placed the rubber and ruler back down, shrinking in her seat under the icy glare of her green eyed friend.

That look was something she had learned to fear; more so than even her own mother's glares. Anytime she was given that look of disdain she would stop whatever mischief she had been up to and immediately return to her friend's side, stuttering out an apology.

She had spoken to Alec about that before, who had told her it sounded like she was 'whipped'. She had absolutely no idea what that had meant and while Alec didn't technically know either, (as he'd heard it used by his older brother many times and so thought it was the right word to use) regardless, it didn't sound nice _whatever_ it was, so she disagreed.

She wasn't 'whipped', she just did as Asami told her to.

That wasn't a bad thing, it was just what she did... right?

Focusing back onto her current predicament, she gave Asami a small, guilty smile. The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow before shaking her head disapprovingly, biting back a smile of her own. Korra's lopsided grin was infectious, but she couldn't let her know that.

Just as she was about to speak again, the bell rang. Korra grinned and jumped up, starting to stuff her things in her bag as most other students did, but Mrs Windslow stopped them.

"Hold on a minute children!" She said, raising her voice "Sit back down for a minute!"

Korra grumbled and sat back in her seat.

"What now…?" She said, pouting and folding her arms over her chest.

"I know that it's Friday and you're all very excited to be going home, but as it seems that none of you have finished your projects, I'm afraid I will have to ask you all to complete them over the weekend and hand them in to me on Monday morning." Mrs Windslow continued, ignoring the annoyed children.

"Ughhhh..." Korra let out another sound of displeasure, continuing her sulking. She _hated_ it when homework was set over the weekend. Weekends were for playing, not working!

Asami, on the other hand, seemed delighted at the idea; due to Korra's behaviour their project was nowhere even _near_ finished and she would never dare let herself hand in any work unless it was completely finished. She was _more_ than happy to finish the project herself over the weekend and let Korra do whatever she wanted to so, but their teacher put a spanner in the works within the next few words.

"Remember, this is a _group_ project. I want _both_ students in each pair to do equal amounts of work." Her eyes flicked over to stare pointedly at Asami and Korra as if she could read their thoughts. Then, she smiled and clasped her hands together happily. "Right, that's it! Class dismissed, have a good weekend and _work hard!_ "

Some of the students grumbled to themselves as they were finally able to pack their bags away; Korra was one of them. She looked over at Asami with a huff. How were they supposed to work together on this project? The two of them didn't live anywhere _near_ each other! Well, she assumed so, as she had no real idea where Asami lived. Either way, it was still a pain.

"So..." She said, trailing off, watching Asami as the pair of them packed their bags and left the classroom behind. The dark haired girl once again raised an eyebrow

"So, what?" She asked; but before Korra could respond, Opal ran up behind them

"Whatcha talking about?" She said, popping her head between them with a grin on her groaned.

"I was just gonna ask about how we're supposed to do this project stuff. Teacher pretty much targeted us when she said we needed to work together on finishing it."

Asami nodded. "I was going to say I would just do it myself… but I don't want to get us in trouble."

Opal frowned. "Then one of you just goes round the other's house and does the project there, duh! Why are you making this so weird? You and I always go round each other's houses when we need to work on stuff together." She said, her confused look aimed at Korra. The dark skinned girl just scratched the back of her neck.

"Well, we _could_ but my papa is working this weekend, and Mum said she was meeting up with some of her friends on Saturday afternoon... so..."

Opal shrugged. "Then go round Asami's! That should be easy enough, right?" She asked, turning to Asami with a grin.

Asami eyed both her friends silently for a moment. Of course, the only logical option _would_ be for Korra to go stay at her house… but she hadn't had any friends over since she'd started her new school. She licked her lips, on the spot.

"I can ask," She said shyly. "But, my mother doesn't collect me from school, so I'd have to wait until I got home before asking."

Korra looked at her with new interest. Visiting her friend's house sounded like a great idea; it was also a big deal, since neither of them had seen how the other lived at home. With a grin she spoke up.

"That's okay though, right? I mean, I can just ask my Mum at home time today, and she can give me our home number to give to you. So, then you can ask your mum and then call us later today to say if it's a yes or no."

Asami blinked, slightly taken aback by Korra's burst of, dare she say it, logic? Biting her lip she flicked her eyes over to the two girls beside her and gave a small nod "...Okay..." she said with a gentle smile "That sounds like a plan."

"Woo!" Korra shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. "We could play so many games; like hide and seek, and tag, and you can show me your room, and-" She would have continued her verbal flood if not for Asami raising her hand and silencing her.

"We do have to do work, though." She reminded Korra, which caused the dark skinned girl to sigh and roll her eyes.

"I know, I know." She whined. "But if I stay _over_ we'll have plenty of time to finish everything. And, since I know you'll get it done quickly, we'll have plenty of free time after to play!"

Asami let out a soft giggle and shook her head in disbelief "If we finish it early we can go play, okay?"

"Now you sound like my _mum._ " Korra replied just before she stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at her green eyed friend.

"I feel like I am sometimes." Asami replied, sticking her own tongue out in retaliation.

Opal glanced between the two of them happily. She wanted to ask if she could come too, but she had her own work partner to finish her project with - one that was sadly not as intelligent as Asami - she knew she would have to work hard for a longer amount of time in order to get it done before monday.

As if reading her mind, Korra leaned over and nudged Opal playfully, "Don't worry." she said with a crooked grin. "We can hang out next weekend, yeah?"

Opal nodded, returning the grin

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you butt" she said, poking Korra's nose and giggling. Korra pouted and poked her friend back just as forcefully. The two of them then began a spontaneous poke war as they walked down the corridor, Asami following a slight distance behind.

She smiled softly and let out a light laugh at her friends' antics. What _was_ she getting herself into?

Shortly after, the trio emerged from the school's main doors and into the playground. Opal gave the other two a big hug goodbye and waved frantically as she hurried over into her mother's waiting arms.

Korra and Asami waved her off, then Korra grabbed Asami's hand and grinned, "C'mon!" she said, tugging her arm excitedly. "Let's go ask my mum!"

Asami bit her lip and shook her head "I... I'd rather wait here, if that's okay..." She said quietly. She wasn't all that confident with strangers, and even though it was Korra's _mum_ she was talking about, she still felt awkward about potentially talking with her.

Korra just shrugged, not wanting to pester her friend too much.

"Alright, be right back!" She said as she sprinted off down the playground to a woman Asami could only assume must be her mother.

She watched as Korra talked very animatedly to her, waving her arms around and jumping up and down. Then she turned around and pointed directly at Asami.

The dark haired girl blinked and glanced up to see Korra's mum giving her a wave, smiling warmly. She returned it shyly before wrapping both her arms around the books in her hands once more, flicking her eyes down at the ground and shuffling her feet.

Several minutes later she heard the thudding of Korra's feet as the girl sprinted back over to her, brandishing a small slip of paper in her hand.

"Mum says yes!" She said, handing the slip to Asami. "That's our home number. Call it when you get to ask your mum and just say you want to speak with me, 'kay?"

Asami smiled and nodded as she slipped the paper into her pocket.

"Will do." she said, before being pulled into a hug by Korra.

The shorter girl beamed. "Great! See you later Asami!" She said, almost shouting, as she hurried off back to her mum.

Asami waved goodbye, smiling, before she headed to another familiar face in the crowd.

The smartly dressed man offered her a warm smile.

"Ready to go Miss?" He said warmly, to which Asami responded with a smile of her own.

"Yes I am, thank you Rusho." She said politely; the man nodded before he guided the young girl out of the school and around to the car park, where a sleek, black vehicle was parked.

He opened the back door for her which she thanked him for before settling into her seat as he closed the door behind her, before he, himself, got in the front.

Starting up the engine, he glanced back at her giving her another smile before reversing out of the parking space, heading home.

It wasn't a long journey, Asami _could_ have easily walked it, but she'd been told that this was just one of the rules; and besides, Asami wasn't one to break rules. Instead, she silently gazed out of the window watching the scenery pass her by.

"Miss, we're home."

She was slightly startled, having found herself deep in thought about the upcoming project. She sat up as the door was opened for her and stepped out, looking up at the sound of the front door opening.

Her green eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face as she hurried over.

"Mother!" She shouted excitedly, almost dropping her books in her hurry to reach the woman stood at the front door.

She wasn't the kind of kid to get overly excited often, but the one person who was guaranteed to make her feel that way was her mother.

Her mother chuckled and bent down, wrapping her daughter in a warm embrace.

"Welcome home sweetheart." She said softly, stroking Asami's hair affectionately before pulling back and giving her a soft, gentle smile. "Did you have a good day at school?"

Asami nodded eagerly "Yes! yes! I've got a big project to do over the weekend, it's about cars!" She chatted away eagerly, to which her mother chuckled and ruffled her hair. Looking up, she gave the suited man behind her daughter a smile.

"She wasn't too much trouble, was she?" She asked with the same smile on her face.

Rusho laughed and shook his head. "She was a perfect angel, as always Mrs Sato."

"I told you, you can call me Yasuko." The woman replied softly.

Rusho shrugged and gave her an awkward smile. "I'm sorry Ma'am, I've got my orders, you understand? Rules are rules and all that."

Yasuko sighed and shook her head.

"Very well, safe trip Rusho." She said as she waved him goodbye and followed her daughter back indoors.

About an hour later after Asami talked animatedly to her mother about the day's events and the pair sat comfortably in front of the fire, the cook respectively informed the pair that dinner had been served.

As they sat down to eat, Asami felt herself getting a little nervous. The one thing she hadn't asked her mother about was the plan she had made with Korra. She wasn't used to asking her mother about that sort of thing.

She took a deep breath and spoke up.

"Mother?"

"Yes love?"

Asami looked down at her plate. "Well, you know that project I was talking about? Well we, uh, need to do it in groups and erm... well..." She glanced up to see her mother watching her, her eyes giving her silent encouragement. "We need to do it this weekend, so I was wondering if I could invite her over to stay? Just to do the project?"

She waited hesitantly for her mother's reaction, only to find an arm wrapped around her instead and a gentle kiss placed on her cheek.

Her mother smiled. "Oh sweetheart, don't look so worried! Of course you can have a friend over!" She seemed ecstatic at the idea of her daughter finally having made a friend. "When would this friends of yours be coming over?" She asked, a broad smile on her face.

"Um… tomorrow morning if that's okay?"

"Perfect! That sounds lovely, I look forward to meeting her!"

Asami smiled back and giving her mother a polite 'thank you' before tucking back into her food.

Once dinner was finished, Asami headed down the hallway and picked up the phone. Pulling the neatly folded piece of paper out of her pocket, punching in the numbers.

She placed it to her ear and waited nervously as it rang. She hated making phone calls.

She gulped when a voice came through from the other end that she didn't recognise.

"Hello, Water residence."

She took a deep breath.

"Um, hi, is Korra there?"

"Who is this?"

"It's Asami. I-I'm her friend from school."

The tone in the other person's voice picked up almost straight away.

"Oh! You must be that young girl she pointed out to me earlier! Hang on, I'll go get her for you."

There was the sound of muffled speech and movement before Korra's voice came bursting out of the phone.

"Asami! Hi!" She said, the excitement in her voice almost palpable. "What's the news!?"

Asami bit back a giggle before replying. "It's a yes." She said softly. "You can come over and stay tomorrow."

She had to hold the phone away from her ear somewhat as Korra let out a shout of excitement. The girl didn't seem to have any sort of volume control.

Once she'd calmed down, Korra spoke once more.

"Awesome! I'm so excited!" She hesitated slightly, the sound of someone else talking in the background taking her focus away.

"Ah.. yeah, could you tell me your address please? Mum says she can't get to your house without it."

Asami laughed a little at that, before giving Korra the required information.

Once done, Korra spoke again. "So! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

Asami smiled and nodded her head.

"See you tomorrow, Korra."

 _ **Hope you all enjoyed that :) I'm really enjoying writing this so far, and I hope you're enjoying reading it just as much!**_

 _ **Don't forget to pop me a little review!**_


	4. Paying A Visit

**_Here you go! This chapter's a bit longer than normal, got a bit carried away and got into that writing mode. You know how it is, right? I mean, I hope you do, ehe!_**

 ** _Enjoy!_**

The 'thud thud thud' of Korra's excited feet on the floor of the car had been adorable at first, but now they were slowly driving the normally calm and collected Senna insane.

She was used to her daughter's bursts of energy as it had been a regular occurrence ever since the young girl had learned to walk, but she had been woken up far too early and tiredness shortens even the longest of fuses.

Gripping the steering wheel she flicked her head around slightly to lay eyes on the source of her irritation.

"Korra..." She said, her tone hinting at her change in mood. The girl in question stopped what she was doing and met her mother's gaze; a small apologetic smile creeping across her face.

"Sorry Mama" she said sheepishly "I'm just reeeeally excited!"

"I know love" Senna replied as she turned her eyes back to the road "just.. Please stop doing that will you? You're going to wear a hole in the carpet."

Korra silently nodded and focused intently on keeping her feet still as possible; her brow furrowed in a comically serious expression. The car was silent for a moment, blissfully so, but was then broken by Korra's voice once more.

"So… we nearly there yet Mama?"

Senna sighed, her lips curling upwards in a tired smile. Silence when Korra was around was a rare event.

She glanced at the satnav above the dashboard "not long now" she said softly "just ten more minutes."

Korra grinned and clapped her hands together, then quickly clasped them together to try her best to be quiet. Instead she focused her attention out of the window to take in the countryside whizzing by her. She had assumed that Asami lived within the bustling centre of the small town just as she did, but in fact she appeared to be staying somewhere practically in the middle of the nowhere.

It wasn't that far away from their school as that was situated on the outskirts of the town, but the vast change in scenery gave the impression of a much longer distance.

The rolling hills spread out as far as the eyes could see, broken up only by small collections of trees or the occasional dilapidated farm building.

"...I think we're here" Senna stated, her tone seemingly unsure.

Korra glanced over, following her mother's gaze ahead of them out of curiosity; what she saw caused her eyes to bulge and her jaw to drop open in shock.

From behind a group of large trees had suddenly appeared a positively huge house.

It looked like it had once been a collection of terraced cottages which had been reconstructed to create one very large building. Most of it was two stories high, except for what appeared to be a modern extension in the centre that pushed the building to three stories.

Korra stared in silence for a moment before speaking.

"That's Asami's house…?"

Senna glanced at the satnav and gave a nod. "Well, that's what the satnav says, so it must be true."

She pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine, Korra meanwhile still staring at the building in awe.

A man in a smart, dark red uniform emerged seemingly out of nowhere and knocked on the window, causing the pair to jump in fright. Senna looked nervously out of the window before she hesitantly wound it down. The man spoke, his tone firm.

"State your name and business"

Senna looked at Korra, who was staring bug-eyed at the man before clearing her throat. But before she could reply, another voice cut through the air.

"Darius, stand down, they arranged to visit here."

The man straightened, his mouth open in protest. The pair in the car turned to the location of the voice to find a tall, dark-haired woman had opened the front door and was walking towards them. Well, it wasn't walking, more like gliding; she seemed so effortless in her movements.

The man stuttered out a few words "B-but Mrs Sato, this is for your securi-"

The woman held up a hand, silencing him immediately.

"I will here none of it. The girl in this car is a friend of my daughter, and I will not have any of my daughter's friends or their family to be made to feel unwelcome here, understand?"

Despite the fact that she was stating what seemed to be an order, her tone wasn't harsh or demanding. Looking over to the duo in the car she gave them a soft, warm smile as the man muttered to himself and walked off briskly.

Senna blinked, confused, but opened the car door and stepped out. The woman in front of her stepped forward.

"My apologies" she said softly "Darius can be a bit… overzealous in his duties at times. I hope he didn't cause you any distress. I did try and convince him that I didn't need his services as a security guard, but he has his orders" Reaching out a hand she gave another smile "my name is Yasuko, I'm Asami's mother."

Senna gave her a hesitant smile in return, shaking the hand "No no, it's perfectly fine; I just wasn't expecting such a situation; I've never known a house to have guards. That was quite a shock."

She let out a slight chuckle "I'm Senna"

"It's a pleasure" Yasuko replied, her eyes turning to the young girl who had hopped out of the passenger seat and was staring at her from across the hood of the car, fascinated. "And you must be Korra" she said with another warm smile.

Korra nodded and silently headed towards her, stopping and looking up at her, eyes wide before speaking.

"You're very pretty Mrs Sato."

The woman placed a hand over her own mouth to stifle a soft laugh. "Well, thank you Korra" she said, mirth sparkling in her eyes as she bent down to greet the girl. "But please, you can call me Yasuko."

Korra tapped her lip, brow furrowed in thought before grinning "okay Mrs Yasuko" She said, clasping her hands together behind her back and tilting her head slightly.

Once again, Yasuko laughed, shaking her head slightly "well, that's close enough I suppose"

She said stood up and looked over at Senna who looked slightly amused and embarrassed by her daughter's actions.

Korra glanced between them cheerfully before a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Asami was stood in the doorway, giving her a shy wave with a similarly warm smile on her face. Korra's eyes light up and she beamed. "Asami!" She exclaimed before whizzing away from the two women and pulling Asami into a tight hug "I'm heeeree!" She said in a sing-song voice.

Asami staggered back slightly, but let out a giggle and patted the top of her friend's head.

"Yeah… I noticed" she said, still giggling slightly at her friend's antics.

Yasuko chuckled again and glanced over at Senna.

"Your daughter is quite the charmer it seems" she said, smiling as Senna laughed in response.

"Apparently so!" She replied as she watched the two girls interacting. "I hope she won't be too much trouble for you. Korra can be quite…" She hesitated, trying to find the right word "...over enthusiastic at times."

Yasuko waved a hand, shaking her head "oh no, I can assure you everything will be just fine. It will be nice to have someone so outgoing in the house for once. Asami's always been the sort of person who keeps to herself most of the time."

Looking over at the two girls she smiled and called out "Asami, why don't you show Korra around? I'm sure she'd love to have a look around."

Korra bounced up and down eagerly while Asami smiled and gave her mother a nod; as Korra bolted indoors the dark haired girl hesitated. She gave Senna a small wave "nice to meet you Mrs Waters" she said shyly before disappearing indoors.

Senna smiled "your daughter's very polite" she commented warmly "I'd love some of her manners to rub off on Korra honestly." She said as she bit back a chuckle.

Yasuko returned the smile and gave a small laugh "maybe it will" she replied "but I would say your daughter is positively adorable. I doubt she needs any improvement." She smiled once more "can I offer you something to drink before you leave? Some tea perhaps?"

Senna sighed, smiling as she shook her head "as much as I'd love to, I'm afraid I have a schedule to keep. Maybe another time?"

Yasuko nodded "of course, you're welcome back any time."

Senna gave her thanks and turned back to her car. As she did so a window opened as Korra's head popped out. She waved energetically.

"Bye Mama!" She said, grinning from ear to ear. Senna smiled and waved in response.

"Goodbye sweetheart! Behave yourself!"

"I will!"

"Promise?"

"Ultra mega promise!"

Senna chuckled and got back into her car, giving her daughter one last wave before starting the engine and reversing out of the driveway.

Korra watched from her vantage point, waving until the vehicle was out of sight. Once it was gone she turned to give Asami who was watching her in amusement. She gave the paler girl a sheepish grin before scuttling back over to her. "So, can I see your room?" She asked, clapping her hands together eagerly.

Asami giggled "sure, come on let's go"

"Lead the way!" Korra declared loudly, giving her friend a mock salute that had her raven-haired friend bursting into a fit of giggles.

As the duo headed out of what Korra had presumed was the lounge/living room area, she turned to Asami and spoke.

"You know, your mum's really pretty!"

Asami smiled, trying not to giggle again

"I know" She replied "A lot of people say that, really."

Korra eyed her silently for a second. "You look like her too, like, a _lot_ "

"A lot of people say that too" Asami replied with a smile.

The pair of them carried on the their journey for a few moments before Asami's mind clicked into place and she raised an eyebrow

"Wait…" She said, tapping her lip "if you said think my mum's pretty and that I look like her, does that mean you think I'm pretty?" She asked as she watched her companion curiously for a moment.

Korra seemed to freeze for a second, her mind almost audibly whirring before she turned to Asami and responded.

"Well… Yeah, I guess I do" she said, fidgeting a little and looking down at the ground; clearly she was a little embarrassed. "One friend can call the other friend pretty, right? I mean, it's not weird right?"

Asami smiled, honestly surprised how Korra was behaving. She'd only been making an observation after all.

"Sure, there's nothing wrong with that" she said, patting Korra on the shoulder. "Now come on, don't you want to see my room?"

Korra blinked, her mouth curling back up in a broad grin "oh! Right!" She nodded eagerly once more. She reached out and grasped Asami's hand, her previous embarrassment seemingly forgotten as she ran ahead, pulling Asami behind her before stopping.

"Wait, which way are we going?"

Asami let out a laugh and squeezed Korra's hand affectionately "this way you silly goose" she said, tugging the shorter girl in the right direction.  
Korra pouted "I'm not a goose!" She whined as she followed Asami, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks "and I'm not sillyyy"

"I say you are, so there" Asami replied, sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry in a fashion that was usually Korra's.

Korra let out a huff and stuck out her own tongue "...fiiiine" She muttered "you win… for now"

The pair finally made it to Asami's room; Korra glancing around and taking in the room she now stood in.

Like the rest of the house, it was large and furnished in high quality items. A large bed took pride of place in the centre, covered in a red duvet and plush red pillows. Two walls were taken up by sets of shelves full of books, each one neatly organized in alphabetical order. Finally, by the window was a large wooden desk covered in drawings, diagrams and several books arranged in a neat pile; with two posters either side of the window depicting a collection of impressive looking vehicles.  
It looked for all the world like an adults room, you would have no idea at 8 year old was the one living here.

Korra wasn't really surprised. Asami was incredibly organized after all. Having stood there for a few moments she glanced over at Asami, who was standing with her hands clasped together and a concerned look on her face.

"Do you.. Like it?" She asked hesitantly. Korra blinked; it seemed that Asami really cared about what she thought of her room.

She gave her friend a smile "dude, it's pretty cool" she said, clapping her hands together excitedly "your bed is huge! Can I sit on it?"

Asami relaxed, clearly much happier now she had gotten Korra's approval. Not many people had seen her room here, and since Korra had always teased her about being too 'grown up', she was worried this would only give her more ammunition. But she clearly didn't feel that way at all. She gave a nod "sure um.. Take a seat?"

Korra scurried over and sat heavily on the bed, finding the mattress to be incredibly springy. She giggled "ooo, it's bouncy!" She said, her eyes lighting up. Asami pretty much knew exactly what her friend was thinking "no, you can't bounce on it" she said, shutting her friend down right away.

Korra whined again, giving her one of her signature puppy dog pouts "awww! Pleeaaase? 'Sami?"

Asami folded her arms and shook her head "we need to do our project, remember?" She gave Korra a look that made the shorter girl sigh and get up off the bed. "Okaay" She mumbled, causing Asami to giggle and shake her head.

-Two Hours Later-

"Are we done yet?"

"No"

"...How about now?"

"No, we're not finished"

"..."

"...what?"

"What about… now?"

"Korra!"

"Okay okay! Sorry… I'm just bored"

Asami just sighed and rolled her eyes. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Korra, her lack of focus was irritating. This was just like school; however she had to admit that her companion did have some good ideas...when she could get her attention that is.

Finally she laid down her pencil and sat back in her chair "okay, we're done" she said, to which Korra clapped her hands

"Finally! I felt like I was gonna go to sleep!"

Asami snorted. That was Korra for you. Blunt and to the point.

Suddenly the sound of a bell rang from down the stairs. Korra blinked in confusion as Asami stood up and turned to her. "That's the dinner bell" she explained to the confused Korra "It means our meal is ready."

That got Korra's attention. Food was always on that girl's mind. She jumped up from her chair, almost knocking it backwards "ooo! Food!" she didn't wait for Asami to lead the way, instead scurrying out of the door, following the scent of food.

Asami followed behind, trying to catch up with her food-driven friend.

Korra meanwhile was so focused on the task at hand she almost barreled into Yasuko who was just about to start walking up the stairs. Korra screeched to a halt, wide-eyed

"sorry Mrs- I mean, Yasuko!" she exclaimed, embarrassed "I-I'm just so hungry.."

Yasuko smiled and gave the girl an affectionate pat on the head "it's okay sweetheart, there's nothing wrong with being excited about food"

Placing her hand gently on Korra's shoulder she began to lead her to the dining room, Asami taking her other hand and walking with them.

"I hope you don't mind, but since I don't know what types of food you like, I asked the cook to prepare something a little more basic than normal"

Korra grinned "That's okay! I like all foods. Thank you!"

Then she frowned "wait.. you have a cook? You don't cook your own food?"

Yasuko smiled "no no, we have a cook that works for us and makes all our meals"

Korra looked at her, stunned "so… you don't have to cook like, _ever?"_

Asami bit back a giggle at her friend's reaction. Her mother simply patting Korra on the shoulder "no we don't" she said warmly "we're very lucky"

"I'll say!" Korra exclaimed as the three of them entered the dining room. Asami took her seat and patted the chair next to her which Korra plopped onto happily.

A gentleman came out of what Korra presumed was the kitchen, seemingly able to handle the three plates he was carrying with ease.

The plates were promptly placed them, Korra already licking her lips excitedly.

After thanking the man and he had left, Yasuko turned to Korra

"I hope you like it" she said, her eyes twinkling warmly "the cook made it from scratch"

Korra looked down at her plate and grinned widely "are you kidding me? Of _course_ I do! I love pizza!" she exclaimed as she took in the sight of the piping hot pizza on the plate in front of her.

"Feel free to dig in then" Yasuko said with a chuckle, to which Korra responded by grabbing a slice and lifting it to her mouth.

She stopped when she noticed Asami had picked up a knife and fork and had begun to cut the pizza into smaller pieces. She frowned.

"'Sami...what are you doing?"

Asami looked up, an equally confused expression on her face. "I'm… eating?"

"That's not how you eat a pizza though!" Korra proclaimed incredulously "you eat it with your hands, like me!" she gestured to the pizza grasped firmly in her hands. When Asami didn't respond she looked across the table "right Yasuko? You eat it with your hands don't you?"

Yasuko raised an eyebrow in amusement "well, from what I understand, that _is_ how you eat pizza"

"see?" Korra exclaimed in excitement at Asami "if your mum says it's true, then it is"

Asami pouted as her mother stifled a laugh. "I don't like to make a mess though …" the dark haired girl muttered shyly, to which Korra snorted

"Meh! that's just part of the fun of eating pizza!" she said as she took a huge bite, the cheese dribbling down her chin "shee?"

Asami just stared at her friend in silence before continuing to cut up her pizza and lift a piece to her mouth.

Korra narrowed her eyes as she swallowed her mouthful and licked her lips.

"Fine, whatever you salami" she said with a mock glare.

Asami almost choked on her pizza "S-salami?" she said in confusion as she turned to Korra who was sitting there smugly.

"Yeah! Cause like, we're eating pepperoni pizza which is kinda like salami, and that rhymes with Asami so yeah, salami!" she stuck out her tongue "Sami Salami!"

Asami just sat there wide eyed for a moment while Yasuko on the other hand was laughing silently to herself, her shoulders going up and down as she tried desperately to stop herself from exploding with laughter.

Asami coughed "I don't know if I like that" she said hesitantly.

"Too bad! I like it so it stays" Korra shot back, blowing her a raspberry "Sami Salami!" she said in a sing-song voice. Asami just shook her head and bit back a smile. Korra's thought process was an odd one indeed.

The rest of the meal passed by pretty uneventfully, with Korra totally focused on her meal. Once done, Yasuko spoke up.

"How's your project going?" she asked, looking between the two girls. Korra grinned "tis done!" she said proudly.

"I did most of the work though" Asami reminded her.

"Yeah yeah I know" Korra replied, sticking her tongue out yet again.

"Well" Yasiko said, getting both girls' attention "since you've finished, how about you go play outside? The weather is so lovely it'd be a shame to spend the rest of the day indoors"

Asami opened her mouth to respond but Korra beat her to it.

"yeah! That sounds fun! She jumped up from her chair "which way is the back door?"

Yasuko had barely gestured the direction of the exit before Korra was already gone, whizzing off out of the room "catch me if you can 'Sami!" she called out as she disappeared from view.

Asami looked over at her mother and furrowed her brows "mum… you hardly ever say anything about going outdoors, you know I don't like going out."

Yasuko got up from her chair and placed a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder "I know darling, but I think it would be good for you. It's not like you would be alone either, Korra's already out there."

"I don't know …" Asami replied as she twiddled her thumbs.

"Look" her mother said softly, squeezing her shoulder gently "I've not seen you this happy to be around someone of your own age, ever. You can try to deny it but I know you care about Korra and what she thinks of you. The hours you spent tidying your room and the pacing back and forth you did while waiting for her are proof of that"

She held up her hand as her daughter tried to speak. "And I can see Korra thinks a lot of you too. You may be opposites in many things, but that's often how the best friendships are born."

She hugged Asami and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "now go on, she's probably waiting for you."

Asami hesitated for a moment before giving her mother a smile and nodding shyly.

"..Okay" she said, getting up from her chair and heading towards the door.

Giving her mother another smile she headed out into the fresh air.

When she was outside she glanced around her. Korra was nowhere to be seen.

"Korra?"

She called out, scouring the area for her friend.

Suddenly she heard the sound of rustling from the copse at the end of the garden, and Korra's head popped out.

She wore a toothy grin on her face and several leaves in her hair. Hopping out of the bushes she came bounding over.

"Sami! I found something cool! Come look!"

She grabbed Asami's hand and pulled her back along the length of the garden and behind the trees. There, nestled between the branches of two gnarled oak trees, was a small, dilapidated tree house.

Korra grinned widely at Asami "did you know this was here? It's so cool!"

Asami nodded "yeah actually… it was here when we moved in."

She tapped her lip "I never used it though, since it's so run down. You can't even get in anyway, the ladder's fallen apart and-"

She was cut short when she looked up to see Korra's legs dangling off the old wooden platform as she scrambled up to reach the old structure.

"Korra what are you doing?" Asami exclaimed, eyes wide.

The girl in question appeared over the edge, grinning wildly.

"I'm fine" she said, waving cheerily "the view's amazing up here, you should come look!"

"I don't know...I looks high up" Asami said nervously, to which Korra shrugged.

"It's not that bad, honest! Here, I'll help you up"

She reached her hand down "c'mon, you won't fall, promise"

Asami hesitated, but looking up she met Korra's blue eyes and saw the honesty there. She knew she could trust her.

"...Okay.." she said, taking Korra's hand. Korra grasped her hand tightly and pulled upwards.

"grab the branch to your left!" she called out, to which Asami complied.

Eventually, after a bit of a struggle, Asami found herself partially sprawled across the platform. Sitting up she brushed herself down and looked up, letting out a soft gasp at the view in front of her.

Korra was right. From their vantage point they could see through the trees in front and over the house to that. Countryside beyond.

"Pretty cool huh?"

Looking over she met Korra's gaze. The girl was still smiling, an almost constant expression since she'd showed up at her house.

Returning the smile she reached over and took Korra's hand in hers.

'Yeah, pretty cool" she said softly as she squeezed her friend's hand. "Thanks"

The two of them sat together in silence for a moment before Asami spoke again.

"You know, I'm glad we're friends"

Korra looked over and chuckled "good, cause I'm not going anywhere."

Asami giggled "Neither am I"

 ** _Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to R + R!_**


	5. Best Friends?

**Finally finished this one! Woo! This one's another two-parter, so the next chapter will be up in the next few days, not long to wait!**

 **Enjoy :3**

After having her over for just that one day, Asami soon found that Korra was even more attached to her than before. Her visits to her house became almost constant, with Yasuko often joking that the young girl had moved in with them.

Speaking of Yasuko, she seemed to really have taken a shine to Korra; often asking her daughter if she was coming over to visit. This surprised Asami as she thought that someone as loud and excitable as Korra would have been too much for her mother to handle, but as it turned out, the two got along incredibly well. She'd asked about it on occasions, to which Yasuko would smile and say "well, she makes you happy, doesn't she?"

This was very true, Korra brought out a side of Asami that she didn't know existed. In fact, the two of them had managed to get into trouble together.

It had started when Asami had persuaded her friend to work with her on a project for the school's science fair. It had been going well when Korra had managed convinced her that their papier mache volcano needed to have a more… dramatic eruption if it was going to win them first prize. Asami had used her brains to increase the strength of the ingredients somehow (Korra just kinda tapped out the minute she'd started explaining it to her) and the end result was.. Well, definitely dramatic. The volcano had exploded, shooting foam high in the air and covering them, the judges and almost half of the other students in the hall.

They had been sent to the principal's office having been accused of pulling a prank. Asami was truly scared, having not been in trouble before. She expected to be subjected to a stern talking-to and having her mother called about the event, but to her surprise, Korra stepped forward and took the blame. Usually she prided herself in being able to avoid punishment, but this time she was upfront and honest, explaining to the principal that it had been her idea, and was therefore her fault.

Asami quizzed Korra about this as they left the office, to which Korra turned to her and gave her a lopsided grin, shrugging her shoulders "can't have you getting in trouble" she said "you don't deserve it." Asami had wanted to point out that Korra didn't exactly deserve it either, but Korra just waved her off, insisting it was fine.

From that point on, the pair barely went anywhere without the other; teachers often joking that they were joined at the hip. This wouldn't have been that much of a stretch from the truth as Korra almost always walked arm in arm with her dark haired friend whenever they went anywhere.

Opal, who had to begin with joked about the pair being so close, began to feel more and more left out the closer the other two got. She tried her best to keep quiet about it because she didn't want to upset either of them, but she was finding it increasingly harder to just stand by and let herself be isolated from them like this.

It all came to a head when, one day, she and Korra were walking out of the school together; Asami had left earlier that day due to not feeling well, leaving the two other girls by themselves. This hadn't been the case for a long time, and Opal wasn't going to just waste this opportunity to talk to her best friend again.

She was still her best friend, right?

She cleared her throat, watching as Korra's eyes flicked over to meet hers. Giving her a small smile she spoke "so… what are your plans for this weekend?" She asked, tilting her head sideways as she silently prayed that Korra would be free. It had been ages since she'd come and visit her, and she was eager to ask her to come over and hang out like old times. Her hopes however were shattered when Korra's eyes lit up. "Oh! Well, mum says I can take my bike out for a spin now that it's fixed, so I was gonna pop over to see Asami and hang out for a while" she grinned "Her mum said I'm welcome whenever so-"

She stopped when she noticed Opal's expression shift from curiosity to almost.. Frustration?.

The dark haired girl furrowed her brow "you… you okay Ope? Was it something I said?" She asked hesitantly. She hadn't seen Opal like this before, it worried her.

Opal bit her lip and sighed, realizing it was impossible to hold back her feelings anymore. She folded her arms as her shoulders slumped slightly

"Why do you always spend time with Asami now?" Her tone was flat, with a hint of irritation "I get it that you guys are close and everything, but you never hang out with me." She hesitated "It's like we're not even friends anymore."

She stood there in silence, her eyes glued firmly to the floor as she waited for a response. She didn't have to wait long.

"...Wait, what?" Korra's voice displayed the shock she was currently experiencing. Opal looked up to see the other girl staring at her wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"You heard me" She said, narrowing her eyes and giving a disgruntled pout.

"B-but...Ope..." Korra took a step forward, reaching out a hand which Opal pulled away from. "I'm sorry I.. I didn't think..." Her eyes were filled with worry "I would _never_ want to lose you as a friend I-... I'm so sorry"

Opal eyed her hesitantly. Korra wasn't lying; at least she didn't look like it. She'd always worn her emotions on her sleeve and as a result was a terrible liar. With another sigh she met Korra's gaze, waiting to see what else she had to say.

Korra shuffled from foot to foot as she rubbed her own arm nervously. "...I've been a rubbish friend, haven't I" she said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yup" Came Opal's reply, to which Korra winced. Opal rolled her eyes "hey, you said it!"

"I know I know.." Korra sighed and reached out, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder "look. You're right. I have been hanging out with Asami more without thinking about what that might do to you. You're my best friend; always have been and always will be. I mean it"

She offered the short-haired girl a nervous smile, to while Opal just raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching slightly. "So… does that mean you're gonna come hang out with me this weekend?"

Korra scratched her head "um..." Opal glowered at her, to which Korra raised her hands defensively "hey hey! I'm sorry! It's just that I kinda promised Asami that I'd go over and help her out with something. You know I take promises seriously!"

Opal continued to glare, letting out a huff.

Korra bit her lip before an idea popped into her head "oh! I know! How about I go to your house in the morning and we can hang out for a bit. Then you and I could _both_ go and see Asami! She's your friend too after all. And it means you and me could spend ages together and I get to keep my promise!"

Opal eyed her companion silently for a few moments. It wasn't _exactly_ what she was hoping for. But she had gotten an apology and would be spending time with Korra after all. It was definitely a start. Letting out a sigh and shaking her head, she looked up to meet Korra's excited gaze and shrugged. "Alright alright" she said, to which Korra beamed and clapped her hands together.

"Great! It's been so long since we've all hung out together, I'm so excited!" She paused for a moment "so...am I forgiven?"

Opal stared at her silently "well… I don't know" she confessed, earning another worried look from Korra. "If you promise me that we'll hang out more often, then maybe I will."

She was teasing Korra a little bit there, but after all she had been practically ignored for the past month… so she reasoned that Korra should at least be made to stew a little longer on the guilt she'd made her feel. Only a little longer though, she wasn't heartless after all.

Korra responded with a nod "yes, yes I promise! I ultra promise!" To which Opal couldn't help but smile slightly. She knew that Korra always kept her promises, so she relented and decided to give her a shot. "Alright" she said as her arms dropped from their folded position.

"Can I give you a good old Korra hug?"

She snorted and looked up at Korra who was standing there, arms outstretched and a hopeful smile on her face. Chuckling a little she nodded, quickly finding herself wrapped in Korra's arms.

The darker skinned girl hugged her tightly and murmured in her ear "You're my best friend. The bestest friend I've ever had and I promise you I'll never stop thinking of you as my best friend, okay?"

Opal was taken aback by the sincerity of Korra's voice, feeling herself getting a little watery-eyed, which she hid by burying her head in Korra's shoulder.

"You're being cheesy" she said softly, a teasing tone returning to her voice. Korra pulled back and pouted, crossing her arms "I'm not!" She whined to which Opal raised an eyebrow smugly

"Oh you SO are" she said as she stuck her tongue out "you're a cheesy weesy mess"

"Well, this cheesy weesy mess happens to be _your_ cheesy weesy mess" Korra retorted as she too stuck out her tongue before giving Opal a playful shove. Opal staggered back before narrowing her eyes and returning the shove with more gusto than her companion. With a squawk of surprise Korra fell backwards, landing firmly on her backside as her legs waved in the air.

Opal stood there laughing hard, doubling over and clutching at her sides as the mirth overtook her. Korra gave her a disgruntled pout and got up "meanie..!" she whined, brushing herself down.

"Takes one to know one!" Opal replied teasingly, earning herself another pout from Korra.

She shook her head and threw an arm around her pouting friend's shoulders "aww c'mon, you kinda had that coming let's be honest." Korra huffed and gave Opal a look, quickly followed by a giggle as her friend pulled a stupid looking face in an effort to cheer her up.

Both girls began laughing at themselves as they walked out onto the playground, arm in arm.

The following days saw that Opal was significantly happier than before. Sure Korra was still spending a lot of time with Asami, but she always made a point of making time and space for her and Opal to spend some quality time together whenever she could. Having her best friend back once again meant everything to Opal, they had been friends before either of them had even learned to walk; sure she was sharing her time with Asami, but she'd much rather share her friend than lose her completely.

She had assumed that Korra had discussed the change of plans with Asami so she'd kept quiet about the topic, but in fact Korra hadn't told Asami a thing. See, her thinking was that having Opal show up unannounced would give Asami a pleasant surprise and warrant a genuine positive reaction from her, therefore showing Opal that she was cared about as much as Korra was. She knew that Asami had mentioned that she'd wanted to spend more time with Opal as well, but she'd always assumed the other girl was busy and decided not to bother her. Also, Korra knew she had become a bit of a distraction when it came to Asami finding free time. She was a very intense person and often didn't give Asami time to think, let alone voice her ideas of hanging out with Opal. She felt guilty about that. Opal had been the one who'd introduced Asami to their little friendship group, and she had unwittingly pushed them all apart.

She hadn't even thought about it until Opal's outburst, and despite her current cheery demeanor she still felt a twist of guilt in the pit of her stomach every time she caught herself getting in between the two other girls.

So, when Saturday morning rolled around, she made sure that she was up bright and early. Senna was shocked to find her daughter already in the kitchen scoffing down a bowl of cereal before she herself had even gotten dressed. When she voiced her surprise and asked for an explanation, Korra stopped briefly in between mouthfuls of coco pops to mumble out "going to Opal's" before continuing to stuff her face.

After practically chucking her now empty bowl in the dishwasher, Korra rummaged through the shoe box and grabbed her favourite pair of blue and white trainers. Quickly she sat on the bottom step and pulled her shoes on, thankful now more than ever that the fasteners were velcro and not laces; even at 8 years old she still struggled to tie her own laces. Well, mainly she just lost patience, but still.

"Bye mama!" She called as she opened the front door, only to find herself being tugged back by the collar of her t-shirt.

"Oh no you don't" her mother replied firmly "not without your jacket. You remember what happened last time right? We can't have you catching another cold!" Korra pouted but took the light blue jacket from her mother's hand and pulled it on as she turned back to the door only to be grabbed again as Senna firmly zipped up her jacket. "How long will you be out for?" She asked as she adjusted the zipper. Korra shrugged ""Umm… well, I'll probably be out all day she said, tapping her lip "I'll be at Opal's in the morning and at Asami's in the afternoon.. Is that okay?"

Senna chuckled. She knew that regardless of what she said, Korra's stubborn streak would mean she'd do whatever she wanted anyway, but the fact she was at least asking was something.

"Of course love" she said as she ruffled her daughter's hair "just be careful on that bike of yours, we've only just got it fixed remember?" She eyed Korra sternly, very much aware that the only reason that her bike had to be repaired in the first place was because Korra had run head first into a lamp post and severely damaged the front wheel. It was a miracle she hadn't been injured.

"Speaking of.." Senna continued as she rummaged around in a bag by the door "you'd best put this on" she handed Korra a brand new cycle helmet and her daughter quickly put it on, but not without Senna double checking that it was put on securely despite her daughter's whines.

Once she was done, Senna pulled her daughter into a hug and planted a kiss on her forehead as she pulled away "have fun love" she said warmly, to which Korra beamed and nodded "will do mum!"

"Promise?"

"Ultra mega promise!"

And with that, Korra bolted out of the door and round the sideway to grab her bike. Senna watched as her daughter pulled the small blue and white bike around to the front of the driveway and hopped on it, gaining acceleration as she peddled down the pathway. Once she was out of sight, Senna smiled softly to herself and returned indoors, closing the front door behind her as she made a mental note to call Su in about an hour to check up on things.

* **Twenty Minutes Later***

"INCOMIIIIIING!" Yelled Korra as she skidding round the corner and up onto Opal's driveway, where she almost cannoned into a shocked Wing and Wei. As the twins scurried out of the way they revealed an equally as shocked Opal who seemed to have been in the middle of defending herself from her younger brothers. The two of them had always loved pulling pranks on their older siblings, and it seemed that Korra had gotten there just in time.

She had barely enough time to get off her bike before she was almost barreled over by a squealing Opal. "You're here!" She cried excitedly before flicking her head round to glower at her younger brothers.

Korra chuckled as she took in the interaction in front of her "Sure am!" She said with a grin "Seems I interrupted something." The twins groaned in unison and folded their arms dejectedly.

Opal nodded "Yeah… I don't know what they were planning but they had me cornered" she said, her arms still wrapped around Korra's neck "so yeah, you saved my butt"

"Happy to help" Korra said with a grin as she stuck a dramatic pose "Korra to the rescue!"

Opal couldn't help herself. She giggled and leant up, giving her friend a small kiss on the cheek "my hero" she said teasingly.

"Ewww!" Said the twins in unison, causing both girls to shoot them a glare.

"What's the problem?" Opal said, sticking out her tongue

"You can't do that!" Wei said, his arms still folded

"And why not?" Korra interjected, folding her arms in response.

Wing piped up "cause you'll get cooties!"

Korra looked at Opal and they both rolled their eyes. Opal wrapped an arm around Korra's waist as she responded "now way, everyone knows girls only get cooties from kissing a boy!"

"Well Korra's pretty much a boy!" The twins protested in unison. This wasn't a surprise announcement. The pair had deduced from very early on that Korra was boyish because, to them, she behaved just like a boy would. It'd been brushed off by Opal and Korra as just kid logic; they were the youngest of the Beifongs after all.

Opal waved her brothers away, rolling her eyes as the pair walked off. Once they were out of sight, she turned to Korra and grinned "so" she said excitedly "what do you fancy doing today? Obviously Wing and Wei are just being pains in the butt so we don't wanna deal with them, I think Jr's busy out helping dad with some stuff, and Huan's locked himself in the study; said something about 'honing his individuality' or something like that" she rolled her eyes again "so we hopefully won't be bothered by anyone"

Korra scratched her head in thought before a familiar smell hit her nostrils. She sniffed, her eyes widening "is you mum cooking something?" She asked, to which Opal nodded "oh yeah! She said something about baking something sweet cause you're coming over. What with it being a while since you last came over and all."

Korra raised an eyebrow and poked her friend's nose "yeah yeah, don't remind me" she teased as she made her way to the front door "we can talk plans in a bit, right now there are sweet things awaiting me!" She strode inside, Opal following behind as she chuckled a little to herself. Korra was the more food-centred person she'd ever known.

It didn't take them long to locate Opal's mother, Su, who was currently in the middle of opening the oven. She looked at and smiled wide as her eyes alighted on Korra. Quickly closing the oven door she strode over and pulled the dark-skinned girl into a hug "Korra! It's so lovely to see you again!" She said warmly. Korra grinned as the woman pulled back and nodded happily "same here Su!" she said as she clasped her hands together eagerly. "I was told you were making food?"

Most parents would have considered Korra's change of conversation a little rude, but not Su. She'd watched the girl grow up and was the closest thing Korra had to a second mother. So, instead Su just laughed "ahh Korra, always about the food aren't you hmm? Well you're right I suppose. I've been busy making some of your favourites" she said as she gestured to the stack of choc-chip cookies piled high on a metal cooling rack. Korra's eyes lit up and she reached a hand forward only to have it batted away.

"Careful!" Su exclaimed, tutting a little "they're still hot! I can't have you burning those fingers of yours now can I? Now, how about you two go play elsewhere for a little bit while these cool down, then you can have as many as you want, okay?"

"Okay!" The two girls said in unison as they headed out of the kitchen, Korra reluctantly leaving the cookies behind.

Opal suggested that the two of them sat and watched tv for a while, at least until they ate. Korra had agreed and the pair finally agreed on a back to back marathon of looney tunes; the show was wild and wacky and exactly what the two girls loved more than anything. Well, not more than cookies obviously, Korra loved cookies more than pretty much anything.

Before they knew it two hours had already passed, and Su called them to let them know the snacks were finally ready. Korra piled a plate high with the chocolate treats, earning her a tease from Opal about being a 'greedy guts' which of course Korra denied.

"So when do you fancy going to see Asami?" Opal asked as she looked over at her friend. Korra looked up, her mouth full of several cookies that she had to quickly chew and swallow in order to answer Opal's question. "Um… I don't know" she confessed "I didn't really give her a specific time, just said I'd be over in the afternoon." If it was up to her she would be going there already, but she wanted to put Opal first. After all, the only reason she was here in the first place was because of her poor friend management skills. Opal thought for a moment "well, it's like, nearly 10:30 now, how about we go at 1? That gives us some time"

Korra's eyebrows shot up "wait, really? You sure?" She was surprised that her companion wanted to go so soon.

"I'm sure" Opal replied, giving her friend a sheepish grin "you've been the only one out of the two of us that's visited her, and if what you say is true about her house I'd really love to explore it. Is it really that huge?"

Korra nodded as she took another bite of a cookie "Yup! Biggest house I've ever seen" she said before stuffing the rest of the cookie in her mouth "itsh aweshumsh!"

Opal let out a soft giggle at her friend's terrible table manners "well, once you've finished that last cookie, how about we go go out back? I've got this new game I really wanna play! I've been trying to get Wing and Wei to play but they don't think it's 'cool' to play games with their big sister. Speaking of those two! I really want to get them back for them trying to prank me out there earlier, I'll be needing your brain to help me get something together-"

"Opal? Sweetie?"

The pair both looked up as Su entered the room, her phone in her hand and a slightly… worried expression on her face.

Opal looked at her mum with a confused expression "what's up?" She asked, Korra sitting up to join in the conversation too.

Su drummed her fingers on the back of her phone "well, I don't want you to stress or anything but I just wanted to give you a quick warning. I've just had a text… it seems your Auntie Lin is coming to pay a visit today"

Opal and Korra sat in silence, looking at each other nervously. Finally Opal spoke up "...When's she coming over mum?"

"Well, she said she's already on her way so.. Maybe in about half an hour?"

Opal stood up, looking over at Korra "I've changed my mind, let's go see Asami right now" Korra didn't even try to protest, getting up and shoving the last cookie in her mouth before brushing herself down.

Grabbing her hand Opal dragged Korra out of the doorway, mouthing 'thank you' to her mum as the two of them sped out of the house.

Once out, Korra let out a huff of air. "Good call...Your Aunt scares me"

"She scares everyone" Opal replied, snorting a little as they headed to the garage to get Opal's bike. She wasn't wrong there. Lin Beifong was the local chief of police, and she took her job very seriously. Too seriously to be honest; woe betide any criminal that crossed her path.

"She's not _that_ bad though" Opal continued "she looks big and scary on the outside, but she's a big softie. Well, at least I'm told that anyway"

Korra snorted "That I find hard to believe. She _hates_ me!"

"She doesn't _hate_ you!" Opal protested "she just…well, you kinda get under her skin a bit too much"

"What, because I keep calling her medusa?" Korra responded. This nickname was due to the fact that Korra had determined that one look from Lin was sure to turn anyone to stone.

Opal rolled her eyes "well that, and there's also the fact that you threw a water balloon at her face."

"That was an accident! How was I supposed to know she was going to walk right into the line of fire in the midst of one of our epic water fights?"

Korra remembered the day all to well. The look on Lin's face as water dripped down it had been absolutely petrifying. It had taken Su almost an entire hour to convince her sister that getting a water balloon thrown at her on accident was not to be considered a crime of 'violence against an officer' and that Korra was far too young to be taken to jail anyway.

Opal waved a hand "aaanyway, we won't have to worry about seeing her now, how about you go grab your bike and we'll get going?"

Korra nodded, picking up her bike from the spot it lay in the driveway. Once on she rolled over to Opal who was just hopping on her own dark green bike.

With a grin, Opal spoke again "right, which way are we going?"

"Well, we need to head past school first" Korra replied, earning a groan from Opal "I know I know! But it's the only way I know to get us there. Then after that-" She rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper "I had mum print me off the directions to Asami's house from there, just in case I get confused."

"Oooo look at you! All organized for once!" Opal said teasingly, to which Korra just rolled her eyes "yeah yeah, laugh it up" she said with a chuckle "you won't be teasing me when I save us from getting lost in the middle of nowhere!"

"Whatever!" Opal replied as she blew a raspberry in her friend's direction. "So! School first, right?"

"Right!"

"Race ya!"

Korra narrowed her eyes and smirked "oh, you are _so_ on!"

The two girls laughed loudly as they both began peddling as fast as they could down the road, around the bend and off into the countryside.

 **Hope you all enjoyed it! Reviews and critiques are always welcome.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	6. Speed Is Key

**_…_** ** _.I'm already writing the next chapter I said, it'll be up soon I said._**

 ** _Three months later isn't what I'd call 'soon', Sorry! D: but it is finally here! Life has been hectic recently, and I fell into the dreaded writer's block. However that is hopefully in the past now and I can finally get back to writing! I'v'e read all the reviews and it makes me genuinely happy to see so many people enjoying my writing. Hope this chapter was worth the wait!_**

"Hey no fair! You can't take shortcuts!"

"Says who? Last time I checked we didn't make any rules, Opie!"

Opal grumbled and glared as a smug Korra came bouncing off of the grass and skidded to a halt at the start of a large driveway. The two of them, once familiar with the landscape, decided to race the last stretch of road to Asami's house. Of course, Korra had decided that the road wasn't good enough, and cut a corner over the grass-covered verge to seal a victory. Korra stuck out her tongue in response to her friend's disgruntled reaction before getting off her bike and propping it up against the nearby wall as she adjusted her hair "you gonna come in or what?" She asked, grinning as she tilted her head.

All irritated thoughts in Opal's mind the minute she reached Korra's location and saw the sheer extent of the premises in front of her. She stared, slack jawed for a moment while Korra chuckled "pretty huge isn't it huh?"

"Yeah.. I'll say"

"I was the same first time I came here, I had no idea she lived in a place like this, but it's really cool, trust me, Asami's mum is lovely, I'm sure she'll love you!"

Opal hopped off her bike after finally shaking herself out of the daze she was currently in "she's so lucky to live in a place like this" she said as the pair of them began walking their bikes up the driveway.

Korra snorted "like you can talk! Your family home is huge _and_ you have a holiday home!"

"I know I know, but I have to share it with four brothers, she gets this all to herself" Opal raised an eyebrow and sent a pointed look in Korra's direction "you're a single child, you have no idea what it's like having to deal with siblings, _especially_ brothers." Korra shrugged "okay okay, point made. When you put it like that, then yeah, Asami's really lucky to have a place like this all to herself. I guess her mum makes a lot of money"

Opal raised an eyebrow "just her mum? Doesn't she have a dad?"

"No idea" Korra replied with a shrug "she never talks about him, and I never see anyone around that could possibly be her dad"

"Isn't that kinda weird?"

"What, that she just lives with her mum? Some people just have a mum or just have a dad, not everyone has both parents around you know!"

Opal blinked, taken aback by Korra's sudden change to a protective demeanour; she raised her hands defensively "hey now, I was just saying what I thought! No need to get all snappy" she let out a chuckle "what are you, her guard dog or something?"

Korra's eyes went wide and her face flushed "w-what?"

"You always jump in to defend her whenever you can. You're like a little guard dog!" Opal grinned and patted her friend on her head "aww good doggy!"

Korra narrowed her eyes and growled, to which Opal just laughed "see? That's what I'm talking about! Little guard dog Korra!"

"Shush" came the muttered reply as Korra turned away, trying to hide her blush "I'm just being a good friend, that's all"

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say" Opal replied, sticking her tongue out.

"...Is this your way of getting me back for cutting the corner in our race earlier?"

"Maaaaybee..."

"Ugh… I hate you"

"Nah, you love me"

Korra swatted at Opal to which the girl responded in turn with a swat of her own. Soon the two of them were engaged in some sort of playful shoving match, their bikes now strewn on the ground, neither one giving in.

"You know, as much as I love your visits, I'd appreciate it if you didn't have fights in my driveway"

Both froze mid-shove, their gazes shooting over to the location of the new voice. Yasuko stood there, arms folded and one eyebrow raised. There was silence for a moment before her resolve cracked and she let out a soft chuckle "ah.. I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist! But really, no fighting" she flicked her eyes between the two.

"Now, I know who you are Korra, but who's this? Another friend?"

Korra blinked, then gave the woman a sheepish grin as she shuffled her feet "ah. Yeah, sorry Yasuko, we weren't really fighting, just being silly, that's all" She turned to Opal who nodded quickly. "And erm, this is-"

"I'm Opal" Opal said, quickly cutting in and introducing herself and giving a polite wave "nice to meet you! You must be Asami's mum, right?"

A flash of recognition went across Yasuko's eyes and she smiled warmly "ahh, _you're_ Opal! Asami speaks so often about the times she spends with the pair of you, I was wondering when I was going to meet the third member of her little friendship group. And yes, I'm Asami's mum, but please just call me Yasuko" her eyes crinkled up into a broader smile before she spoke again "would you like me to get Asami for you? I'm sure she'd love to see you."

Korra and Opal nodded and said "yes please!" In unison, causing Yasuko to chuckle again "very well, you wait there, I'll go get her for you."

A few minutes later, Yasuko returned, Asami in tow. Her face practically lit up when she saw both girls standing there and quickly hurried over to meet them "Korra!" She exclaimed gleefully, giving the shorter girl a gentle hug "I was wondering when you'd show up, you're always late" she teased before turning to Opal and giving her a similar, albeit shyer, hug "I wasn't expecting to see you today, this is a nice surprise!"

Opal, having returned the hug, gave Asami a confused look when the two parted "huh? But I thought Korra told you I was coming?" She shot a glare at Korra who grinned guiltily and shrugged.

Asami shook her head "no, she said nothing, but I'm happy you're here all the same" she gave a shy smile "you're both my friends after all." She glanced back at her mother who was still stood in the doorway "anyway, would you like to come in? Mum says she's happy for you to stay for tea"

Korra grinned and gave Opal a gleeful look "ooo! Trust me Opal, the meals here are _amaziiiing!_ "

She threw an arm around the short-haired girl's shoulders "we'd love to stay for tea!" She announced for the pair of them, Opal nodding before giving Korra a look as soon as Asami had turned around and begun walking inside.

"What are you up to?" Opal said quietly as she eyed Korra, who just grinned again

"Dude I'm not up to anything, I just wanna spend time with both my bestest friends, what's wrong about that? Sure I forgot to tell Asami you were coming, but didn't you see how happy she was to see you? C'mon, lighten up huh?" Opal raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly

"Fine fine, but I'm watching you" she did the 'watching you' fingers between the two of them, and the pair of them just giggled and swatted at each other.

Eventually the three of them made in indoors, Korra grinning as she watched Opal take in the environment around them. Sure, the Beifong estate was large, but it was nowhere near as lavishly furnished as Asami's house.

Once they were inside, Asami turned to them, the expression on her face clearly giving away that she had suddenly had a thought.

"By the way..." she said, tilting her head "how'd you guys get here anyway? I didn't hear a car or anything."

Korra grinned "ahh that's easy! We biked here, well, raced. I won!"  
Opal folded her arms and pouted "no you didn't, you cheated! You cut off a corner!"

"What, you want a rematch?" Korra replied with a grin and sticking her tongue out "you know I'll win again anyway."

Asami flicked her eyes between the two, a slight smile on her face "well, if you want a rematch, we've got a bit out private road out back you could race on. No risk of cars and stuff, you know?"

Korra raised an eyebrow "you wouldn't mind us doing that? I mean, wouldn't it be boring for you just to sit and watch?"

"Who said I would be watching?" Asami replied with a broad grin "I'm gonna race too!"

The other two girls blinked in surprise "wait, really?" Opal replied "I didn't think you'd wanna do something like that."

Asami just shrugged "I'm not really the type of person to share everything but, yeah, I like to race. It's the speed you know?"

"..Well, okay, but I'm still gonna win" Korra said with the same smug grin on her face, to which Asami just raised an eyebrow and bit back a chuckle.

"No cheating this time!" Opal announced, eyeing Korra pointedly.

The three of them headed back outside, Opal and Korra stopping to collect their bikes before following Asami around the back of the house to the garage behind. The door was already open so the three of them headed inside, Asami still taking the lead.

The light was switched on and flickered into life, illuminating the room beyond. Unlike the house that was maintained to a status that was borderline immaculate, the garage was a mess. Boxes upon boxes were stacked precariously on top of each other, some harbouring what looked like several layers of dust. There was a large workbench in the corner with a plethora of tools scattered about its surface as well as what looked like a bunch of old books.

"Careful" Asami said as the trio weaved their way through the mountains of boxes and bags "if you knock any of these boxes too hard it might fall on you. They shouldn't but.. Yeah, be careful"

Korra nodded and glanced around her in surprise. How was it that this room was in such a state? It didn't make sense to her; turning to glance back at Opal who was clearly thinking the same thing.

"You're surprised it's so messy, huh" Came Asami's voice, as if she'd read their minds "but honestly I don't really know. Apparently Dad used to use this place a lot, but that was back when I was really little; I don't remember it ever being used."

The two other girls glanced at each other worridly, their conversation from earlier coming to the front of their minds once again. Usually Korra might have pushed a bit further, being the curious type that she was… But she wasn't stupid. If what they thought was true, it wouldn't be the best subject to talk about.

Just as Korra was scanning the room in a effort to find something to change the topic of conversation, there came a rattling from Asami's direction "ah! Got it!" She exclaimed, pulling a bicycle out from behind yet another stack of boxes. It was deep red with black pinstriping down the sides; seriously, why was everything in Asami's house red?

As she was contemplating that thought, Korra suddenly heard Opal speak up rather excitedly "hey, what's that?" She asked as she pointed across the room. There, just peeking out from behind, you guessed it, more boxes, was what looked like the gleam of metal. Were those headlights? If they were, they weren't what Korra was used to seeing.

Asami shuffled her way back over through the alleyway of boxes and craned her neck to see. She smiled "oh, that's my mother's old car" she explained "I've got photos of her driving it somewhere… never got a ride in it though"

Considering the fact that it was stuffed right to the back behind a tonne of mess that wasn't really surprising. It was probably shut in here at the same time as when the building stopped being used, and Asami had said that was when she was much younger.

"I'll probably get to drive it sometime though" continued Asami "because when I asked my Mother about it she said it's mine when I'm old enough."

Opal's and Korra's jaws simultaneously dropped to the floor "you… you've got a car?" Opal exclaimed "for real? You have a real car?"

Asami chuckled and gave a nod "yeah I do. But like I said, I can't drive it til I'm at least 18. Mum said so."

"Still.." Interjected Korra "You've already got a car! I don't think I'll get one till I'm like, 30 or something!"

"Anyway, since it's your car, can we have a look?" Asked an excited Opal. Asami shrugged

"Sure, if you can get to it. It's pretty stuck in there."

"Where there's a will there's a way!" Opal announced proudly before squeezing between the boxes. Korra frowned "say what?

"It's an expression! Mum says it all the time!" Came Opal's voice as she momentarily disappeared from view.

The two remaining girls looked at each other, Korra shrugging in confusion while Asami giggled a little before they followed suit. After much shuffling and squeezing in and out of tight spaces, the three of them were greeted with the car. It, too, was a deep red colour that showed up even underneath a thick layer of dust and dirt. The black interior was also just as dusty.

"It looks really old!" Exclaimed Opal as she scurried over to get a better look. Asami nodded "yeah, mum said was given it by her mum who bought it years ago" she tapped her lip "I think it's called.. Um.. oh! Yeah, it's a model A, a roadster. That's why it doesn't have a roof"

"Is it really that old then?" Opal continued

"It is" Asami replied, a cheery tone in his voice "they were the second car to be mass produced in America, after the Model T"

"Eh? How does that work?" Responded a confused Korra "Shouldn't it be A first? Then B?"

Asami shrugged again "don't ask me, that's what the inventor called it."

"Pfft, then they're stupid" Continued Korra, folding her arms. Asami puffed up her chest, glowering at her companion "Henry Ford was a genius! He's the reason cars are where they are today!"

There was a silence in the room for a moment before Korra snorted, shaking her head "okay okay, calm down" she stuck out her tongue "didn't think you were such a car nerd."

Asami let out a huff "sh-shut up.." she stuttered out, clearly caught off guard by Korra's cheeky response.

The moment was interrupted however by a dull 'thud'. Turning they discovered that the cause of the noise was Opal; she had attempted to get into the car but had found the door was jammed shut due to the piles of junk either side. She had clambered up over the boxes and lost her balance, falling headfirst into the seat. As the pair rushed over her head popped up, sneezing and wiping the dust off of her face. "Ow.."

"You okay?" Asami asked, a worried tone to her voice. Korra meanwhile was biting her lip as she tried her best not to giggle. She'd been worried initially, but having grown up with Opal she'd gotten used to her clumsiness, finding them more amusing than anything. Well, when she wasn't hurt of course.

"Ugh… I'm fine" Mumbled Opal as she wriggled about a bit, rubbing her head slightly "bumped my head a little, but I'm okay." Korra squeezed her way through to stand beside Asami. With a sigh she leaned forward "okay you clumsy lump, you'd better get out of there, who knows how many spiders and other creepy crawlies are down in there" she said the last part with a slightly evil grin across her face, to which Opal squeaked and practically jumped out of the car, Korra grasping hold of her arms and tugging her out the rest of the way as Asami found herself stumbling back to get out of the way.

Once out, Opal brushed herself down and shook the dust from her hair. Korra snorted "okay, after that little show, how about we go out and race, you know, like we planned?"

"Fine fine, no need to be so rude" Retorted Opal, sticking her tongue out playfully in her friend's direction. The trio finally exited the building, Asami pulling her bike behind her.

Picking up their own bikes once they were outside, Korra and Opal were quick to bring their thoughts back to the race at hand. Much teasing and bravado ensued as Asami lead the way to the stretch of roadway at the very back of the property.

Once there the trio were quick to organise the rules (no cheating, as Opal had once again pointed out.) A start and finish line were established with the help of a piece of chalk and they stood together, bikes at the ready. "Right, on the count of three" Opal said excitedly as she and the others got onto their bikes "one, two, THREE!"

All three bikes left the line simultaneously, both Korra and Opal doing their damndest to overtake one another. They were neck and neck when all of a sudden Asami sped by, leaving the other two in the dust before skidding to a halt across the finishing line. She was already hopping off her bike by the time the pair also crossed the finish line, both staring slack-jawed at her.

Opal was the first to react. With a chuckle she dismounted and gave Korra an amused look "seems you got beat" she said with a grin. She was surprised Asami had beaten them both so easily, but a part of her was somewhat pleased that Korra had been put in her place. Speaking of Korra, she too was equally surprised. However at Opal's comment she tried her best to brush it off; she had her pride to take care of after all. With a slight cough she shrugged her shoulders casually "beginner's luck, has to be" she said, avoiding the others' gazes as she knew they were both smirking at her.

In response, Asami tilted her head, a playful smile on her lips "oh? So you're asking for a rematch then?"

"Well yeah, I mean, we can't make the call on just one race, right?"

"Says you" Opal replied with a snort, to which Korra just sent her a mildly playful glare. Asami on the other hand just shrugged "well if you insist, best out of three then?"

Korra nodded, a determined look in her eyes. She wasn't going to be beaten. It was beginner's luck, right?

They started the race once again, and once again Asami won by a long shot. Korra was once again flustered and demanded they do best out of five instead. Yet again she was beaten, race after race; during race number five Asami decided to even pop a wheelie across the finish line.

This time Korra knew she'd been beaten. She was a prideful person but she knew when enough was enough, and finally accepted defeat. They pulled their bikes back along the roadway and round the side of the house, propping them against the side of the garage beside each other.

"...So, why didn't you tell us you were that good at cycling?" Opal asked curiously as the three of them made their way back indoors "A lot of the other kids at school bring their bikes in all the time for races and the like. If you took your bike in and raced, they'd love you!" Asami looked back at her and just gave a small shrug

"well.. I could" she confessed, running a hand through her hair "but then a lot of them might say nice things about me and want to be my friend, but then they wouldn't be friends with me for me, you know? Just what I can do." She sighed as the other two watched her in confusion "It's happened before" she explained "at the last school I went to I had a lot of other kids wanting to be my friend, but it was only so they could get popular. After that, mum always taught me I should be friends with people who like me for me… if that makes sense."

Opal and Korra glanced at one another, taken aback by this admission. Sure Asami had always seemed the more intelligent of the group, but this seemed as if it was almost philosophical. Korra soon found herself deep in thought. If what Asami said was true, then she could understand why she would feel the need to keep certain qualities about herself… To herself, so to speak. She couldn't believe that anyone would have such a superficial reason for friendship, and it made her wonder just what Asami's life had been like prior to her attending their school. This curiosity was soon dropped however as they rounded a corner and a delicious smell wafted towards them. Upon entering the house Yasuko was there to greet them, informing them that the chef was almost done with cooking and that tea would be ready shortly.

The meal itself went relatively quickly, since the three girls were eager to share the recent events with a rather amused Yasuko. Opal was also keen to ask even more questions about the house which Yasuko was more than happy to answer, despite most of them being repeated several times due to Opal's excitement.

Soon, the sun was beginning to make its way across the final stretch of the sky, causing Opal to glance at her watch and grimace "ugh...it's getting late. I don't wanna leave but we've got to cycle back, and mum always told me not to ride my bike in the dark." She glanced over at Korra who was wearing a similar displeased expression on her face. Neither of them wanted to leave, but they knew they had to.

Eventually they headed back out the front door, both giving Asami a tight hug and promises of coming back soon. With a few more waves the pair mounted their bikes and began the long journey home, Asami waving them off until they were out of sight.

Despite Opal's initial hesitation at the beginning of the day, she was glad that the three of them were able to spend time together. She had genuinely been worried about the rift she had seen forming between her and Korra, but it had apparently been all in her head. Korra was and always would be the kind of person to put her friendships before anything, something that Opal had almost taken for granted until recently. She hoped from now on that they would be able to spend as much time together as possible. All three of them.

 ** _As usual, I hope you all enjoyed this story! I'm always open to criticism, especially now since I've taken such a long gap from the last chapter, so please don't be afraid to point out anything you think I could improve on. I take it all on board, Promise!_**

 ** _I'm not going to give specifics about when the next chapter will be up, but I can promise you it won't be another three months, not even another one month either if I can help it!_**

 ** _See you guys next time!_**

 ** _-Kieran_**


	7. Celebration

_**See? Told you it wouldn't be a long wait! Haha xD Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to leave a review!**_

- _Two Months Later-_

Asami's brows were furrowed in intense concentration as she stared intently at the page in front of her, tapping the pen on the desk's surface. Despite having finished her homework many days before the deadline, Asami was never one to turn down the option of additional work. At that current moment she was focused on the task at hand, so focused in fact that she didn't even notice the figure approaching her until a loud noise broke her concentration.

' _Thwap!'_

Aside from being startled, Asami found herself trying not to sneeze as a cloud of glitter wafted about her. The reason for her sudden interruption was of course, Korra. She was standing in front of Asami's desk with a broad smile on her face, gesturing eagerly to the item she had ever so enthusiastically slapped onto the desktop.

Asami picked up what appeared to be a card absolutely smothered in glitter, so much so it cascaded off of the surface the minute she tilted it towards her. "What's this?" She asked as she looked up at the grinning blue-eyed girl in front of her.

"It's an invite!" Exclaimed Korra as she clapped her hands together "come on, read it! I made it just for you!"

Eyeing her with amusement Asami gingerly opened the card, trying to minimize the amount of glitter fallout as best she could. Inside it, written wonkily in bright blue felt tip were the words ' _To Asami. You are invited to my birthday party!_ ' In the corner there was an additional scribble ' _p.s. I'm turning 9!'_

She flicked her green eyes back up to meet Korra's blue ones; the girl in question was once again practically bouncing up and down on the spot. "Well?" Came the eager question, to which Asami gave a nervous smile. "A birthday party?"

"Well duh! That's what it says doesn't it?" Responded Korra teasingly as she stuck out her tongue "here I thought you were smart 'Sami"

Asami couldn't help but playfully roll her eyes, she really had walked right into that one. "I was just double checking" she said as she raised an eyebrow and chuckled. She had mainly asked due to the fact that she was nervous. Yes her confidence had grown significantly during her friendship with Korra and Opal, but that didn't change the fact that she still felt uneasy in large crowds. Korra, despite being fiercely loyal to her two closest friends, was always outgoing and was very popular amongst her classmates. Popularity meant knowing lots of people, and knowing lots of people meant the possibility of a very large birthday party. Just the idea of being amongst a large group of people she didn't know well made Asami's nerves kick in, but when she looked up at Korra once more she saw the excitement in her eyes and felt instantly guilty for even thinking of rejecting her offer.

"I'd love to" she finally replied, causing Korra to let out a squeak and pull Asami into a hug

"Awesome! I can't wait!" She exclaimed, completely unaware of the glitter that had attached itself to Asami's cardigan, as it was now spread across her own polo shirt. Pulling away she clapped her hands together, beaming "the party's at 3 til 6, at my house, on Saturday. Oh! You haven't been to my house yet have you? I'll get you the address at lunch so you'll know where to go, see ya!" With that she sped off across the classroom, a trail of glitter in her wake.

Asami watched her as she went about the classroom, her thoughts turning back to the invite in her hands as Opal slid into the seat beside her. She heard a chuckle from the short-haired girl as she turned to greet her. "So, Korra give you an invite huh?" Opal said with a grin, to which Asami nodded. She hoped she didn't look too nervous, but Opal was very quick to pick up on her body language. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know.." Came Asami's quiet response "It's not that I don't want to go it's just that.. Well, you know how I feel about crowds." Opal nodded. She'd seen how quickly Asami could go from outgoing to insular the minute they were among a throng of other students. She didn't understand why, as Asami always seemed to know what to say in most scenarios… But regardless she could feel sympathetic. Just because she couldn't wrap her head around it didn't mean she couldn't accept it. Realizing that she had been silent for a moment and that Asami was watching her, she finally spoke up. "You know, you're the only one who got her invite delivered in person, well, except me" She grinned, to which Asami blinked in surprise.

"Wait, really?"

"Well yeah! Did you see her giving out any other invitations?"

Asami glanced out across the classroom to find Opal was right. Korra had a bundle of invites under her arm, but she was pushing them all into the bags and jacket pockets of the other students hanging on hooks; not one other student was holding one in their hands. She didn't know why, but the fact that Korra had made that little bit of extra effort to give her an invite made her stomach do a little flip. Korra seemed to have that effect on her.

Noticing Asami's mood change, Opal smiled and decided to press forward "Oh, and by the way, keep this between us, but the party doesn't _really_ finish at 6. Korra said the plan is to have a big party to begin with for all the kids in class that finishes around 6. That's when everyone else goes home… except us." She grinned as Asami's eyebrows shot up "Basically, she wants a party that's just for her closest friends, which is of course us." She giggled "but keep that to yourself, yeah? It's a secret" She tapped the side of her nose and gave Asami a cheerful look.

This made Asami relax significantly. A party for just the three of them? That sounded perfect. She loved spending time with her two best friends and was so glad to know she'd have some time to relax with them without being overwhelmed by other students. As soon as she relaxed her mind almost instantly went back into overdrive. What was she going to get her as a gift? Most of the time when they all played together it was imaginary games, and aside from her bike, she had no idea what physical items Korra enjoyed… Well, except food, that was an obvious one.

Once again Opal was quick to cut into her thoughts and stop the spiral of stress she could see her friend getting into. "If you're thinking about what to get her, speaking from experience I can honestly say that she's the least picky person I know. If anything the fact that you're going to be there is enough for her… But if all else fails, she likes anything fluffy. Take it from me." She grinned when she saw Asami eye her in confusion "Since you haven't been her her house you wouldn't know about her huge collection of stuffed animals. It's like a mountain of fluff and she loves every one of them. So yeah, anything she can cuddle is a good shout. Or food… but there's going to be lots of that at the party."

"Right, thank you" Asami replied, giving her companion a relieved smile as she mae a mental note. She was thankful that Opal was there to act as a go between herself and Korra at a time like this; as much as she adored Korra she was so hyperactive and intense at times that she would find it hard to keep up, both physically and mentally. Opal gave her a pat on her shoulder "you're welcome" she replied, retracting her hand and wrinkling her nose as she eyed her palm "...Just a heads up, you might want to give yourself a bit of a brush down in the loos before lessons start. You're covered in glitter." Asami looked down at herself to find that Opal was in deed right. A fine layer of the glitzy substance coated the front of her cardigan and had even made its way into her hair. She gave Opal a quick murmur of thanks before carefully getting up out of her seat and heading to the bathroom.

Throughout the rest of the day, Asami became very much aware of the fact that not only does glitter get everywhere, it is practically impossible to remove all of it at once. When it came to lunchtime she was picking tiny flakes off of her sandwiches and snacks and it irritated her to no end. However whenever she would make eye contact with Korra her irritation would fade, finding the cheerfulness in Korra's blue eyes almost contagious. The girl in question would occasionally lean over and pluck another particle out of Asami's long dark hair, causing her to shy away and feel almost embarrassed. She wasn't sure why. Korra just seemed to have that

effect on her.

The rest of the week, this time, seemed to drag on more than usual for Asami. Her ideal system to pass the time was to bury her nose in a book for hours on end, but this week her train of thought was constantly interrupted by a nagging worry about the party on saturday. Following Opal's advice she had been able to pick out a gift which she had neatly wrapped, complete with card, as well as a nice little outfit to wear to the party, but that didn't change the stress of the situation.

Her mother had told her time and time again that there was nothing to worry about, and she was feeling somewhat better about it, but she was prone to anxious behaviour which she knew would not go away completely no matter how hard she tried.

So, when Saturday rolled around and she began to get everything ready, she did what she could to keep her mind occupied. Her mother had said that she would take her to Korra's house. Well, she wasn't going to be taking her there perse, since their driver Rusho was under strict instructions to do all the driving; but Yasuko knew that her company in the car would help to calm Asami's nerves.

Before she knew it, she was called down to the front door to await Rusho's arrival. "You look lovely"

Yasuko cooed as she fixed a few strands of hair that had managed to break free from the long french braid she had painstakingly created upon Asami's request; it was fastened at the base with a small red scrunchie that matched perfectly with the deep red dress that finished just below Asami's knees (she knew Korra would probably tease her about the fact that she was yet again wearing red, but last time she had pointed out how much blue Korra wore on a day to day basis and that seemed to keep her quiet. For now anyway)

"Ready to go love?" Yasuko said with a smile as she opened the front door and glanced back at her daughter. Asami nodded, holding the perfectly wrapped present and card tightly in her arms before following her mother outside. Rusho gave them both his usual polite greeting and opened the door for them despite Yasuko insisting they were more than capable of doing it themselves (once again he informed her he was just 'following orders' to which she would give her usual reluctant sigh). It was only going to be a short journey, about 20 minutes or so, so Asami wouldn't have too long to sit and worry. Also her mother kept making small talk with her in order to offer her some kind of distraction and keep her focused on the positives. She admittedly was excited to see what Korra's house was like as they'd only ever spent time at her own house. She'd asked Korra before but it seemed the other girl was embarrassed to talk about it too much, mentioning that it was nowhere near as large and impressive as Asami's house. Asami didn't care though, she'd always wanted to live somewhere a bit smaller anyway, it would be much less intimidating.

"We're here" came Rusho's voice, prompting Asami to sit up in her seat and gaze curiously out of the window. Korra's house was just as she'd imagined it: small, with (surprise) a pale blue door and window frames. Two well stocked borders adorned each side of the doorway, which was still full of colour despite most of the flowers having gone to seed and many leaves turning various shades of yellow, red and brown. As she exited the vehicle she noticed that many of the houses in the little cul-de-sac were almost identical apart from the fact that Korra's house was the only one standing alone, the others being semi-detached. There was a real sense of community among the collection of buildings that Asami was unable to experience from living on such a large estate.

After walking up the short cobblestoned path, Yasuko knocked on the door and gave her daughter an encouraging smile. She opened her mouth to give her a few words of reassurance when the door opened swiftly in front of them "and who might you be?" Came a deep, booming voice. Asami turned and looked up to see a large, hulking figure standing over her, arms folded and one eyebrow raised. She quailed slightly under the man's gaze but thankfully Senna appeared behind him. "Tonraq" she chided in a playful manner "don't go scaring our guests like that." The heavily built man, now known as Tonraq, opened his mouth in protest "aww come on, you know I'm only messing!"

"Tonraq..."

"Okay okay, I'll go check on the kids" He let out a sigh and gave the visitors an apologetic smile before heading back inside, leaving Senna shaking her head. "I'm sorry about that" she said with a small smile "my husband forgets just how intimidating he looks sometimes.. Anyway! I'm so glad you came Asami, please come in! Korra's waiting for you" She stepped to one side. Asami looked up at her mum hesitantly before Yasuko gave her an encouraging nod, to which she responded with a smile and slowly headed indoors.

"Will you be staying, Yasuko?" Senna asked politely to which Yasuko smiled and nodded "I'd love to. Asami's been so nervous I just wanted to keep an eye on her, even if it's just for a little while." Senna nodded "That's understandable, she does seem like such the shy girl, bless her." The two of them continued to chat as they headed inside, closing the door behind them.

Meanwhile, Asami walked down the hallway hesitantly, heading towards the sounds of chatter and children playing. There was also an additional sound to the racket, something akin to crashing and banging. It stopped shortly after however when the door ahead of her opened, and before she knew it there was a squeal of excitement and she was almost bowled over. "Asami!" Exclaimed an ecstatic Korra as she hugged her dark haired friend enthusiastically. "Uh.. hi" Responded Asami in a choked tone. Being squeezed so tightly was inhibiting her ability to speak, or even breath for that matter.

When she was finally released she glanced down, thankful that the gift she'd bought wasn't fragile. Korra on the other hand was so excited the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. "I'm so happy you're here! Come on, everyone's in the living room!" She grasped Asami's free hand and dragged her down the short stretch of hallway and into a heavily decorated and very busy room.

Aside from the throng of students Asami's eyes alighted on the object that she presumed had been the source of the noises earlier. It the corner was a small drum set, already set up. It was unexpected, but Korra was an overly energetic sort, so a drum kit sort of made sense; she became almost self-conscious of the quality of her own gift at that moment, holding it to her chest. Korra meanwhile was chatting away as she continued to lead her forward, completely unaware of the thoughts whirring through her friend's mind. Eventually Asami found herself seated on the lone, slightly worn grey sofa tucked in the corner. It had clearly been moved to make space for the guests, but Asami didn't mind sitting in the corner, she had said how she preferred solitude after all.

Korra had wandered off somewhere, insisting she'd be back soon, so for now she was left alone. She'd just started to relax when the seat beside her dipped slightly as someone sat beside her.

"Hi" Came a voice she hadn't been expecting. She jumped slightly but turned to find a boy with a shock of bright red hair and bright blue eyes seated beside her. She blinked, caught off guard by the sudden intrusion, but her manners prevailed and she gave him a smile "Um.. hi" she said in a quiet voice. The boy gave her a grin "You're Asami, right? I'm Davis" he said in a tone that was somewhat over enthusiastic. Asami nodded and was about to respond when Davis spoke again. "You know, you're really pretty" he shuffled a little closer to her, causing the nerves in Asami's stomach to come bubbling up again. She coughed slightly "well erm.. Thanks?" She replied as she tried to think of a way to move backwards without being to obvious.

Davis meanwhile was staring almost intently at her, a smile on his face and his cheeks turning a slight pinkish colour. Was he.. Blushing? He ran a hand nervously through his hair and spoke again "you know, I don't see you around a lot at school, but I've heard you're really smart. Would you maybe… like to help me out with my homework sometime?"

With her eyebrows now raised in surprise, Asami took in what he'd said. She wasn't exactly sure how to reply, especially since it was clear on his face that it wasn't homework help that he was interested in. (Plus she was trying to find back a slight laugh at what seemed to be a very awkward attempt at some form of flirtation. She'd watched enough romantic movies with her mum to know enough about that topic. She wasn't usually good at reading people but he clearly wasn't good at keeping his feelings subdued. She could read him like a book.) Just as she was opening her mouth to reply a thankfully familiar voice cut through the awkward silence.

"Asami!" Called Korra as she came scurrying back over, two plates stacked high with various buffet style snacks "sorry I took so long, I just wanted to make sure I got one of everything and-" She stopped mid sentence as her eyes landed on the unexpected intruder. She only had to flick her gaze back and form between them once before she narrowed her eyes at the boy in front of her. "Davis… what are you doing?" She asked, the change in her tone so sudden it caught Asami by surprise. The boy fidgeted before replying "I uh… was just talking to Asami about something, that's all."

"Yeah, okay, but you're in my seat" Davis sat wide-eyed for a moment before gulping and getting up almost hurriedly "oh! Sorry! I'll just uh- I'll just go, yeah." He got up from his seat and stumbled slightly as he hurried out of the way. Korra watched him, her eyes still narrowed in a way Asami hadn't seen before. However amusing that interaction had been, she still felt bad. So when her companion took her seat she spoke up again "you didn't really need to be so mean" she said softly "he wasn't doing anything wrong."

Korra huffed a little as she placed her plate on her lap "yeah maybe, but he was making you uncomfortable, I could tell just from looking at you. Besides-" she continued as she handed Asami her plate "-you're one of my best friends. Don't want anyone to think they can take my place." The last part was said almost in a mutter, but Asami heard it and chuckled slightly. "No one could take your place" she said as she gave Korra's shoulders a gentle shove "like you said, we're best friends. No need to be jealous; no one's going to steal me away" Korra snorted and gave her companion a playful look, her cheeks colouring slightly "I know I know..." The two girls giggled to themselves before tucking in to their overly full plates.

Throughout the rest of the day Korra barely left Asami's side. Sure she would spend a few moments chatting with some of her fellow classmates and occasionally drag Opal in on the fun, but she was always quick to check Asami was nearby. She knew it probably seemed odd, but she was smart enough to see that her friend was uncomfortable; Asami wouldn't say anything because she didn't want to make Korra worry, but Korra could read her friend much easier than was probably thought. She wanted Asami to enjoy herself there… besides, she didn't want Davis to try anything again. Yes he'd been harmless in his attempts to get Asami's attention, but something in Korra made her feel protective of her friend. Whenever she'd spot the boy in question making his way over (he didn't seem to take the hint) she would shoot him another look and take Asami's hand in hers, as if to emphasise she was unavailable to him. He would gulp and shuffle away awkwardly while making some excuse.

Eventually the party slowly came to an end. A cake was brought out and everyone sang happy birthday before each being given a little gift bag including a slice of cake and various other treats (Asami couldn't really wrap her head around the fact that the guests were getting gifts when it wasn't their birthday) and one by one the kids were collected by their parents and taken home. Before they knew it, Korra, Opal and Asami were the only kids left. Yasuko had ended staying as well, though she had spent most of her time chatting with Senna and staying out of the kid's way; she hadn't wanted to impose too much on the party after all.

Now the time finally came around for Korra to open the remainder of her gifts. Those that she had been given by the other party guests had been opened almost instantly, but the ones from Opal and Asami had been left til last. This was mainly because the two of them knew of the extended party and were more than happy to wait so as to see Korra open their gifts when things were less hectic.

Opal's was first: A box containing an impressive amount of sweets (Senna made sure to comment on the fact that she shouldn't eat them all at once.) each wrapped up individually; Opal knew Korra's favourite treats and it was clear she'd spent a long time accumulating the hoard of sugary items. Asami watched hesitantly as Korra enthusiastically thanked Opal, then she turned to Asami's gift.

Watching as her companion tore into the brightly coloured wrapping paper, Asami couldn't help but feel nervous; she wasn't great at getting gifts, and had only had some sort of idea as to what to get her thanks to Opal's hints. Finally the wrapping was peeled away and Korra let out a squeak of excitement "it's so cute!" She exclaimed, hugging the huge fluffy polar bear plush to her chest before pulling Asami into the hug as well "I love it! Thank you so much Asami! He's so soft and fluffy!"

"Y-you're welcome" Asami replied in a strangled tone as she was yet again crushed in her companion's arms, glancing over at Opal who gave her a grin and a thumbs up. Instantly the fluffy toy was the centre of Korra's attention. She held it under one arm for the rest of the day, parading it around and introducing the fluffy creature to the adults of the house. Selecting a name wasn't even an issue, as upon inspection the bear had a tag on its ear stating 'Hello! My name is Naga!' which Korra said suited it perfectly.

Time whizzed by and sooner than expected the sun had started to set. As much as Asami would have loved to stay longer, her mother had reluctantly informed her that she had called Rusho to collect them and that he would be with them shortly; she knew her daughter wanted to stay but they unfortunately couldn't afford to stretch their driver's schedule out any longer than was necessary. Korra followed Asami to the door when the time came and pulled her into another one of her now signature bone-crushing hugs "thanks for coming" she said softly as she withdrew "I had a lot of fun, wouldn't have been a proper party if you hadn't been there."

Asami felt herself flush a little at than; tucking a strand of her jet black hair behind her ear she gave her friend a shy smile "thank you for inviting me.. I'm not usually good with parties" she replied, giving Korra a tight hug of her own before reluctantly turning as her mother opened the door and followed her out. As she got into the car she turned to see Korra standing in the doorway waving, one arm still wrapped tightly around Naga. She giggled and waved back, continuing to do so until the car drove them out of sight.

As she settled back into her chair she couldn't help but smile to herself; all that stress had been worth it just to see Korra smile like that.

 _ **As usual, thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it :)**_


	8. Of Love and Loss

_**Here you go, another chapter! Thought I'd put up another update this week seeing as I'm going to be busy over the christmas holidays and didn't want to leave you guys hanging.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

"Humph" Korra huffed to herself as she reluctantly made her way down the hallway to class. Opal, who was walking close beside her, gave her a quizzical look "What was that for?" She asked, to which Korra just rolled her eyes. "Just… do we really have to do this stuff? It's so mushy and silly and… ugh!" She folded her arms and practically glared at the ground.

"It's not _that_ big of a deal" replied Opal as she gave Korra a playful shove, a slightly amused expression on her face "Valentine's day is just that, one day. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to"

"Eh.. whatever" Korra replied with a grumble before she sped up to avoid the inevitable teasing she would endure if she allowed Opal to continue. Asami had watched the conversation with a confused expression as she followed on behind the pair; when Korra shifted ahead however she shuffled forward to walk side by side with Opal.

"What was that all about?" She asked, to which Opal rolled her eyes

"Ugh, it's nothing, well, it shouldn't be but… she has this issue with Valentine's day for some reason. I think she just hates the fact that it's just turned into this big competition to see who gets the most cards." Glancing over at Asami she leaned over and lowered her voice "she doesn't tend to get many and I always thought it didn't bother her, but for some reason she's acting up a little more than usual… but keep this between us, yeah?" Asami swallowed and gave her a nod, a sheepish look in her eyes. If that was indeed the case she felt a slight wave of guilt wash over her; just as she had been heading in she'd had three of the boys from her class bashfully hand her their attempts at valentine's day cards.

She wasn't stupid, it had become pretty clear ever since attending Korra's birthday party that a lot of the boys thought she was pretty. She'd had several of them attempt to get to know her over the past few months but she'd politely turned them down; there was just something about romantic advances that made her uncomfortable. When she'd spoken with her mother about it, Yasuko had just assured her that this was normal. That she would, in time, feel less and less awkward about any romantic advances as she matured; she had given her mother a nod despite still feeling weird about the whole thing.

When they reached the classroom Korra had already taken her seat at their table. Her chin was resting on her folded arms as she stared across the classroom, bright blue eyes narrowed in a glare that seemed to be directed at no one in particular. Opal sat beside her and Asami took her seat on the other side of the table, offering Korra a small smile as she did so. Korra looked up, her eyes brightening for a moment before they flicked back over across the classroom.

They had barely sat down before another male classmate approached, a small red envelope clasped in his hands that almost mirrored the colour of his cheeks. He cleared his throat.

"Umm.. this is for you" he muttered, hurriedly dropping the slightly crumpled envelope on Asami's desk before scurrying off back to his seat before she could offer her thanks. Asami gulped and took the card, quickly stowing it away in her bag. When she looked back in Korra's direction she saw that her gaze had now focused on the source of said card, her eyes narrowing. Trying to brush it off as nothing, Asami began unpacking her books and setting them out in front of her. It was, however, pretty hard to do when she could practically feel the change in Korra's mood; she really couldn't understand what was going on with her. But then again Korra was always prone to intense emotions both good and bad, so she did her best to not think about it too much. It was hard though, because before lessons had even started several more cards were dropped on Asami's desk. None of the senders of said cards stayed around long as the threatening glower of Korra sent them packing; Asami was a little frustrated by her friend's behaviour but secretly she was thankful that she had someone to keep her boys at bay. She had work to focus on after all.

During lunch things were definitely different. Korra was nowhere to be seen, leaving Asami with just Opal for company. The three of them always ate lunch together so Asami was concerned, but Opal just shrugged her shoulders, mumbling something about Korra saying she just needed a bit of space. Apparently that was supposed to be a comfort, but all it did was make Asami worry more. What was she needing space from? She wasn't aware that either of them had done anything wrong.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the dining hall, that answer to that very question was being discussed at length.

"Dude, seriously, you're really being moody right now."

"...Shut up Alec"

"You're just proving my point right now. What is your problem? You haven't sat with me at lunch for months."

Korra grumbled as she sunk in her chair and folded her arms. He had a point. She wasn't one to just wander off and leave her friends like that. "I just.." She sighed "Asami's just getting so many cards from all the boys, it's not fair."

Alec raised an eyebrow "so.. You're jealous?"

"No, no it's not that-"

"Cause any time any boy's shown any interest in you, you've scared them off"

"No, Alec-"

"Then what is it?"

"It's just not fair!" Korra repeated, to which Alec just raised an eyebrow. With a sigh she sat up slightly in her chair "...just, why do they think they can just go and do that? It makes Asami uncomfortable and I felt angry cause..."

"Cause what?"

"...Cause she's more than what they see"

Alec sat there in silence for a moment, blinking in confusion at his friend's admission. "Um.. what's that got to do with anything?"

Korra coughed, trying to cover her face that was now glowing a deep shade of pink "I-I just don't want her to get that sort of attention. She doesn't need anyone else to send her those messages telling her they think she's pretty. Of course she's pretty, she doesn't need them to tell her that. She's so much more than that; she's a great friend and she's funny and she has the best smile and…" she trailed off, realizing how she was sounding. Alec meanwhile tilted his head and chuckled "so...you agree with them, but you don't like how they're giving her those cards just based on how she looks?"

Korra, still red in the face, gave a silent nod. She could feel the heat in her cheeks practically burning. Why was she feeling so embarrassed? However Alec seemed to thankfully be ignoring her and was thinking hard.

"Well then" he said, grinning "why not just write her one of your own? Like, one to tell her she's more than just the pretty that the guys seen. If you're both friends it shouldn't be weird, right?"

"Um..." Korra furrowed her brow and tapped her lip. It didn't seem to be a bad idea, but how what she going to do that? For some reason Asami really had a hold on her and it made her stomach twist just at the thought of it. Looking up at Alec who had the same grin on his face, she took a deep breath "...okay, what do you suggest?" She asked, to which Alec responded with a chuckle as he leant forward in his chair, handing her a crumpled up piece of paper he'd just pulled from his pocket and the stub of a pencil. "Just start writing what you think. We'll make it together yeah?"

After a moment of hesitation, Korra gave Alec a small, shy nod and took the items proffered to her. This was going to be interesting.

After a Korra-less lunch, Asami had intended to engage her friend in conversation but it had fallen flat. Korra seemed even more uneasy than before, fidgeting a lot and avoiding eye-contact whenever possible. It didn't appear that this behaviour was negative, but she still couldn't help but worry as to why Korra was behaving this way. It continued throughout the rest of the afternoon, with Korra making minimal effort to speak despite clearly trying (but failing) to act normal.

It wasn't until the end of the day when Asami was just getting up from her chair to begin filing out of the classroom with the other students that Korra approached her. She hadn't even noticed she was there until a gentle cough caught her attention.

"...Hi" Korra said, shuffling from foot to foot, her hands clasped behind her back "I er… sorry I've not talked to you much, I'm not mad or anything but-" she gave Asami a sheepish smile before quickly pulling out the dark blue envelope from behind her back and presented it to her green-eyed friend "I want you to have this."

Asami looked at the envelope in question confused, but when she opened her mouth to ask Korra just shook her head "just.. Open it? Please?"

With a raised eyebrow Asami did as requested. Tentatively she opened the envelope and pulled out a card. It was very similar to the one given to her for Korra's birthday party, except this time instead of a plethora of different shades of glitter, there was a little drawing of two stick figures holding hands. One was drawn in blue felt tip and had a ponytail while the other was drawn in red felt tip and had very long hair; underneath were the words 'best friends' were scribbled haphazardly. Looking up at Korra curiously, Asami then opened the card, finding there to be a small paragraph inside that said the following:

 _Asami._

 _You are one of my best friends. You are smart, funny and I trust you with everything. All those guys don't see you for who you are, which is more than just what you look like._

 _I like you a lot, and I want to be friends forever._

 _Korra_

 _p.s. You are also very pretty_

Asami read the note in silence, while Korra watched her nervously. She could feel her heart in her eardrums it was going so fast, and it only sped up when she watched the corner of Asami's lips curl upwards and heard her let out a soft giggle. She gulped.

"Um… you like it?" She asked shyly as she tilted her head ' _please don't think I'm weird please don't think I'm weird_ ' she mentally pleaded as Asami placed the card in her bag and gave Korra a warm, soft smile "you're sweet" she said softly, taking Korra's hand and squeezing it. Korra blinked "you don't think it's weird? I mean, I was just so annoyed that all the boys just kept sending you all those cards and stuff while they didn't know you for you and I just wanted you to know that you're special and-"

Asami had been watching her friend babble on for a good minute, barely being able to stifle a giggle. Knowing that talking over her wouldn't do any good she pulled Korra towards her and pressed a gentle, friendly kiss on the cheek. "It's perfect, thank you." She said as she pulled back "you don't need to worry so much okay? It's adorable. I'm really touched you went to the trouble of making a card like this for me."

Korra meanwhile was unable to process the information. She had gone stock still, her eyes wide as saucers and her cheeks going from a soft pink to a deep scarlet in a matter of seconds. She didn't know what to do until Asami poked her cheek "hello? Anybody home?" That shook her out of it. She coughed and rubbed the back of her neck "oh! Yeah… Yeah I'm here. Sorry. Glad you liked it" she looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet awkwardly, causing Asami to chuckle and give her another playful poke. "You're a dork" she teased "sweet, but still a dork."

"I-I'm not a dork!" Came a whining protest, to which Asami giggled "you so are" she replied, sticking her tongue out.

"I'm not a dork!"

"Uh.. yeah you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"I'm gonna get you now!"

"Never!"

The two girls laughed amongst themselves as they hurried out of the door despite protests from Mrs Windslow who they had almost crashed into in the process. After giving their brief apologies the two of them saw the empty hallway and broke into a sprint, Korra finding herself lagging behind her taller, long-legged friend. Eventually she gave up the chase, leaning against the doorway to catch her breath "okay.. Gimme a minute.." she said as she huffed, but Asami just stuck out her tongue and continued running down the hall. As she did so, Korra caught movement and watched as something fell out of Asami's bag. She jogged over to find that it was the card she'd given her. Not willing to let her friend leave it behind she picked up the pace, noticing Asami was out of sight by now and probably already in the playground by now. She hurried outside and glanced about her, letting out a groan of frustration as she watched her companion rounding the corner. As she ran after her once more however her mother grasped hold of her shoulders having spotted her heading across the playground at speed "not so fast you monkey, where do you think you're going?" She raised an eyebrow to which Korra was quick to reply. "Asami dropped something, I need to give it back to her!" She would have told her mother what it was, but she still felt a little embarrassed about it. Her mother, having given her a curious look, simply shook her head "Is it school work?" Her mum asked.

"Well no but-"

"then you can give it to her tomorrow." Came the firm reply "I'm sure Asami won't mind missing whatever it is she dropped, and if you're that worried you can call her when you get home, okay?"

"...Okay.." Responded Korra reluctantly as she stuffed the card back in her own bag. During the car ride home she couldn't stop thinking about it. Sure it was just a card but she'd spent a lot of time on it, Asami needed to have it. So, once she was home and had finished her homework (well, made a mess of her desk and scribbled a few random notes on her book to make it look like she'd done her homework) she casually slipped down the stairs. Her mum was out in the garden tending to her vegetable patch, and with her dad still not home from work yet she saw her opening. It wouldn't take her too long… Bike to Asami's house, drop off the card, bike back. That would take 20 minutes tops and her mum usually spent an hour or so in the garden before starting to prepare dinner so she wouldn't even notice she was gone, right? She wouldn't even have to worry about locking herself out as there was a gate connecting the front and back gardens that was short enough for her to vault over.

Having convinced herself she crept out of the front door, closing it carefully behind her so as not to make a sound and pulled her bike out from round by the side gate. The card was firmly tucked in the main compartment of her rucksack so as to not lose it as she sped off down the road, a slight wave of excitement following her as she did so.

As she sped around the final bend in the road, her excitement crash landed. She could see Asami's house from a distance, not by the light of the setting sun, but by flashing lights. Blue and red ones. Slowing to a halt at the end of the driveway she could see the lights belonged to police cars; there were a lot of them too, looked like at least 4 or 5. Korra didn't know much about police, but she what she was sure of was that the more police cars the bigger the problem.

"This is a crime scene kid, police only. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave" came a gruff voice that caused Korra to jump.

"Uh...Lin?" She said carefully having now recognised the officer as Opal's Aunt. It seemed Lin recognised her too, and her expression hardened "Oh.. you." The woman sighed "What are you doing here? Kid your age shouldn't be out so late, it's not safe."

"I… I came to see Asami" Korra replied after a hesitant silence "she lives here.. Is.. is she okay? What happened?" Her voice wavered slightly towards the end of her sentence. Lin regarded her for a moment before she let out another, almost sad sounding sigh before responding in a tone of voice that was much softer than before. This was very unlike her.

"Listen kid…I can't tell you what happened but... Asami's fine, okay?" She leant down and looked Korra in the eye "She's okay. But what I need you to do for me is to turn around and head back home right now, is that understood? This place isn't safe right now and the last thing I need is for you to end up in trouble as well"

For a moment, Korra opened her mouth to protest, but the look in Lin's eye made her quail and slowly nod, pushing her bike back out onto the road. As she turned the bike around and headed back the way she'd came she glanced back to see Lin still watching her intently.. It looked like she wouldn't be able to head back there any time soon. Now however she was worried, very worried. Lin had said Asami was okay, but what did she mean by saying that her house wasn't safe? What had happened? A million and one questions buzzed in her brain all the way back down the road.

When she had got home, her mother had been beside herself with worry. Her dad was now home too and the pair of them took turns giving her a stern lecture about leaving the house without permission. Promptly grounded and sent to her room, Korra was unable to tell them all that had happened; she really wanted to explain but she didn't want to anger her parents any more than she already had.

So, by the time the following day came around, Korra was tired, stressed, and unable to say a thing in case it got her into even more trouble. She was almost falling asleep at her desk by the time lessons began, and it was only when Opal poked her did she bring herself back to the land of the living.

"Dude, you okay?" Said Opal carefully, her eyes full of concern as she observed her usually energetic and bubbly friend almost drained of all possible forms of energy. In response Korra just shrugged "Eh..." She replied as she glanced around them. Asami wasn't here. She was always early to class. The pang of worry hit her once again, made worse when even Opal voiced her concern about the absence of the usually prompt companion.

She'd wanted to tell Opal what she'd seen, what she'd heard, but before she got the chance Mrs Windslow entered the room and began the lesson and requested they work in silence. This didn't help Korra at all as she was unable to focus on anything on the paper in front of her, instead finding herself still worrying about her green eyed friend's location. It didn't go unnoticed as Mrs Windslow approached her desk and knelt beside her "are you not understanding the questions?"

Korra gulped "erm.. No it's just-" she hesitated "-It's weird not having Asami here. I hope she's okay"

"I understand" Replied Mrs Windslow in a tone that wasn't firm like Korra had expected. Glancing up Korra met her gaze to see something else in her eyes. She looked… sad? That was weird. Watching her stand up and head for the door, Korra eyed her in confusion, what was going on? A few minutes later she returned, tapping both Korra and Opal on the shoulders "can you both come with me please" she said softly, to which the pair looked up at her; Korra in confusion, Opal in surprise. They both nodded however and quietly pushed back their chairs, ignoring the looks they were getting from their peers; to them it surely looked like they were in some sort of trouble.

That was exactly what crossed both the girl's minds as they followed Mrs Windslow out of the classroom, but it was Opal that spoke up "are we in trouble, miss?" She asked hesitantly, to which their teacher looked back at them and shook her head "no no, don't worry about that" she said almost abruptly. It was as if she didn't want to talk too much.

The rest of the walk was in silence before Mrs Windslow stopped at the headmaster's door and knocked. A muffled 'come in' came from inside and the door was opened, Mrs Windslow ushering both girls inside. They'd never met their headmaster before, so this meeting was intimidating to say the least… but there was something about the atmosphere in the room that made it worse.

"Ah, please take a seat" said the bearded man behind the desk, to which the duo silently obeyed. After shuffling some papers he cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses as he did so "so… I'm sure you're wondering why you're both here"

They nodded.

"Well, It has come to my attention that the two of you are close friends with a certain Asami Sato, is that correct? And that you are both aware of her absence today?"

Again, they both nodded to which the man sighed again "then, I hate to be the one to tell you this, especially with you and your friendship still so young.. But Ms Sato will, I'm afraid… Not be returning to this school."

There was a deafening silence for several moments as the girls sat wide eyed, before Korra stood bolt upright "What? Why?" She exclaimed "is she in trouble? She's never done anything wrong, why can't she stay?"

"It wasn't our decision, I'm very sorry" said the headmaster softly in an attempt to calm the now frantic girl "you can be sure we didn't want her to leave either, but her family insisted that she needed to be taken out of our school immediately. We would never let a student go so quickly in any normal situation, especially one such as talented as Asami..." He adjusted his glasses "but we were informed that some urgent family matters had come up and she needed to leave the very next day."

By this point, Opal was sat in shock, her eyes wide but her mouth shut. Korra meanwhile stood in front of the desk, her fists clenching as a sob threatened to escape her "but.. That's not fair!" She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes "She can't be gone, she can't be gone!"

"I...I didn't get a chance to give her her card back..."

… _ **. The happiness could only last for so long huh? Was only a matter of time.**_

 _ **Just so you know, from this point on things will be speeding up somewhat, with timeskips between chapters getting bigger and bigger. I have a huge amount of character development to cover and I want to get it all in without dragging it out too much.**_

 _ **Hope you all enjoyed cute innocent kid Korra and Asami, cause that's not gonna be the case any more. Sorry! D:**_


	9. New Start, Downhill Slope

The day after Asami's abrupt removal from the school and many days after that, the two remaining girls struggled to comprehend the situation. Opal, being the sort to wear her emotions on her sleeve, had spent the rest of the first day trying to stop herself from crying at the drop of a hat… but she soon found it impossible. When their classmates also learned what had happened many of them (specifically the girls) were quick to offer their support. Although they were young they all knew the importance of friendship, and to lose one out of the blue like that would, of course, have been a shock. Opal was thankful to them, eventually finding the attention of her classmates a perfect distraction.

Korra however… well, her reaction was on the borderline of being polar opposite. She completely withdrew herself from any and all social interaction; even when Opal made an effort to start up conversation to distract her she just blanked her, only responding in one word answers or with just a nod or shake of the head. She knew in her heart of hearts that keeping to herself was a bad idea, but she had opened herself up to Asami; she'd trusted her and considered her one of, if not the closest thing she ever had to a sibling… and now she was gone.

Yes, she was a social person, but she found it hard to make the leap from acquaintance to friend and, as a result, treasured anyone who she felt able to trust enough to make that leap. In the beginning she was just worried for Asami; what had happened?; was she okay?; and most importantly, what was the 'family emergency' that had caused her to leave? She'd tried getting back into contact with her, but when she rang her number she was just met with a dial tone. When she decided to make the journey down to her house she had found the gates closed and locked, the house looking practically abandoned.

Eventually, however… she turned to blaming herself.

It wasn't her fault, she was told time and time again by fellow students, teachers, and family alike… but she couldn't help but take Asami's disappearance personally. She began to convince herself that she'd done something wrong, that Asami must now hate her. Maybe that her card had proven too much for her and she'd just run away. Anyone she spoke to about this would constantly assure her that her thoughts were ridiculous, but that did little to stop the spiral Korra's mind was now on.

For the first few weeks Opal had did whatever she could to try and keep Korra talking. They had both lost the third member if their little group and to her the most important thing was to keep the remaining bonds as strong as possible. They needed to lean on each other for support… or at least that's what she thought was best. Korra just kept withdrawing and withdrawing despite her friend's insistence. She refused to go out at weekends, ignoring her parents' advice that socialization would be beneficial; she'd stay in her room instead, drawing and focusing on playing her drums.

Opal came to visit many a time to try and pull Korra out of her depressed shell to no avail.

Eventually both of the girls' patience wore thinner and thinner until they got into an argument, the only serious one they'd ever gotten into in the history of their friendship. This resulted in Korra stating aggressively she didn't need anyone any more, and Opal dejectedly telling her that she was now giving up on their friendship unless she grew up. It was a tough thing to do, but the way Korra had been behaving was only making Opal's life worse. Besides, she now had a group of new friends to support her at school. It wasn't anything close to the bond that she and Korra had shared, but she'd had to surrender to the fact that it was the best she was going to get in their current situation. Korra wasn't going to be changing her frame of mind any time soon.

As the final few years of primary school slowly dragged by, any hopes Opal had about Korra coming around were steadily dashed; the girl was now a recluse who barely spoke a word to anyone, even her own parents. Even the teachers were baffled as to how a normally chatty and highly sociable girl had done a u-turn in her personality. Her parents specifically came to the conclusion that while losing Asami had been the catalyst to her change in personality, it couldn't have been the only issue. At least, that was what they presumed. Korra never opened up about the topic to them no matter how hard they tried.

Thus, on a cloudy September morning as Korra stood in front of her bedroom mirror in her secondary school uniform, she didn't feel the same excitement as her peers. Instead? Nerves, fear, and an unsettling emptiness that refused to go away no matter what she did.

She tugged hesitantly at her jet black blazer; it felt much too big for her but she was assured that she would grow into it (a classic parent saying by all accounts). Nevertheless, she was glad to have something to cover her up; the dark gray skirt she'd been made to wear made her feel uncomfortable and exposed. Why did she have to wear a skirt? From what she'd heard the school allowed female students to choose between skirts and trousers, but for some reason the only items her mum had purchased were skirts. It wasn't short by any means… but she had always preferred trousers above anything else.

"Korra, sweetie? You ready to go?" Senna called out, breaking her daughter's train of thought. Korra gulped and took a deep breath. In truth she wasn't ready to go; she wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and block out the world forever… but she couldn't tell her mum that.

Instead, she reached down and grabbed her rucksack (stuffed with enough supplies for an entire school it seemed like) and opened her bedroom door.

"Coming!" She replied in a tone she hoped was enthusiastic as she hurried down the stairs to meet her mother who was waiting expectantly in the hall. Smiling warmly Senna took her hand, giving it a squeeze as she opened the front door and led them both outside.

Instead of heading to the car, Korra was lead down the road to a layby where a handful of students were gathered. As it turned out her new school, Northern Academy, was far from local.

It was miles away in a town Korra had never been to before; there were plenty of schools nearby but her parents had done their research and decided that this school would be the best for her. It had the highest ratings from Ofsted, whatever that meant. So, as a result she wouldn't be getting a lift into school as she had before, instead she would be taking the bus there and back.

When they reached the rudimentary bus stop, Senna turned to her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Have a great first day love." She said softly, planting a kiss on the top of Korra's head. In the background Korra picked up on the sound of quiet laughter, and when her mum relinquished her hold on her she glanced over her shoulder to see some of the older students smirking at her. What was their problem? Suddenly, Korra felt the nerves in the pit of her stomach rear their heads again, and she quickly stepped away from her mother's embrace. Senna furrowed her brow in concern, but she unfortunately didn't have the time to press the matter. Glancing at her watch she sucked in a breath. "Okay, I've got to head off now, will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine mum." Korra replied flatly, looking up to meet her mother's gaze. "Really." She insisted. That was a lie, of course, she didn't want to be here at all, but she didn't want to worry her mum any more than she already had. So she simply gave her mother a wave and a smile that she hoped wouldn't be read as false, then when her mother was out of sight she turned back to the group of students. She could have headed over to them but there was something about them that threw her off; she didn't like it. Instead she just stood where she was, hands shoved in her pockets and eyes glued to the ground in front of her.

Her eyes flicked up however a few minutes later when she noticed some of the students beginning to move. A large, yellow and brown double decker bus with a significant dent on the corner of the roof came rattling around the corner before coming to a shuddering halt in front of the students. Korra stared at the bus in disbelief. This was supposed to be a school with high standards, why did they have such a rattle trap for a bus? It didn't add up, but she had no choice but to line up behind the other students and board. As she stepped on she wrinkled her nose. There was a definite smell of damp in the air, coupled with a scent she could only assume was that of discarded food; the bus driver gave her a look as she showed him her pass. He, like the bus, looked old and certainly worse for wear, with a look of distrust in his eyes. It was as if he viewed every student getting on his bus as a potential ticking time bomb. It certainly unsettled her but she tried not to think too much of it.

Glancing about, her eyes settled on a spot right at the back and she made a beeline for it, but a hand shot out and stopped her in her tracks.

"Year 7's down the front." Said a female student with bleached blonde hair. Korra glanced over at her, blinking in surprise. However, it was clear that it wasn't a joke, the girl was refusing to let her past, so she quickly retreated and found herself a seat at the front. She took off her rucksack but decided against placing it on the floor in front of her as the floor of the bus was damp and muddy. Wait, was that a hole? She shook her head and clasped her bag close to her chest instead.

The bus started with a wheeze and moved off after several slow, yet somehow also lurching movements. The vehicle took them round all the back roads, collecting up more and most of the school's students as it did so. It didn't take long for Korra to discover why the bus had the dent in its roof; a lot of the country roads weren't suited for such a tall vehicle, with many low hanging branches hitting against it with loud thuds and crunches that could be heard and felt throughout the vehicle. It was a miracle there wasn't a hole on the roof already.

Korra tried to pass the time by watching the scenery outside. She'd had to wipe the condensation off of the window and had grimaced at the thin layer of dirt now covering her hand, but it was worth it. She'd always been the sort of girl who preferred the countryside over the city; rolling hills and lush green forests trumped the grey walls and sharp lines of manmade landscapes any day. With a pang she suddenly realized that the scenery looked familiar; in the very distance she spotted the outline of a house that she hadn't visited for years. She winced, that meant that every time she headed to and from school she would be passing Asami's old home. How was that fair? She'd spent ages trying to push the negative thoughts surrounding her old friend out of her mind and now they would return to her every day for the next five or so years. She sank back in her chair and turned her gaze down to her feet, letting out a low sigh and resigning herself to her new situation. What could she do about it anyway? It was out of her control.

By the time the bus reached its destination, Korra's interest in the world around her had dropped even further. Even when she gotten off the bus and looked around she didn't stop to really take in her surroundings at all. She'd already been here once before anyway with her old school; they'd been given a brief tour of the facility in preparation for their enrollment and even then it hadn't been that impressive. Sure it was huge with long, narrow hallways and tall staircases, but it wasn't so much impressive as it was intimidating. As Korra followed the rest of the students she recalled how tall the older students had seemed on her induction day; they probably weren't all that tall in retrospect, but for an eleven year old, sixteen year old students appeared to carry the same level of confidence as adults did and, as a result, gave off the impression of being taller and prouder.

As soon as she had entered the main hallway she was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of students surrounding her. Kids and teenagers of all shapes and sizes hurried around, the individual conversations and movements blurring together into a cacophony of sounds and sights that Korra quickly became overwhelmed by. Pulling a crumpled map out of her pocket she looked it over briefly before taking the left hand side of the hallway and sticking close to the walls as she did so. Apparently there was a rule that dictated that students had to stick to the left side of the hallway to avoid collisions, but not one student seemed to be obeying that rule, so Korra kept getting bumped into and jostled about as she made her way slowly down the hallway to her form room.

She double checked that the sign on the door corresponded to the note on her map, then pushed open the door of I.T. Room 3. There were already several students present, already separating off into little groups. There weren't many primary schools that fed into this one secondary school, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to her that many of the students had come here together. She, unfortunately, didn't recognise a soul; even if she had she doubted they'd want to talk to her, anyway. She hadn't really made much of an effort to keep any friends.

Without much thought she picked a spot in the corner of the room, hefting her bag onto her new desk with a small grunt of exhaustion. Seriously, how much junk did she need in her bag? It was ridiculous.

Shortly after, the teacher entered the room. Her form's teacher was an older man, his hairline having well and truly receded. Clearing his throat he glanced about the class. When no one seemed to take notice he clapped his hands together loudly; the students responded this time, all taking a seat and watching him attentively.

"Good morning!" He announced somewhat gruffly. "My name is Mr. Nguyen, I will be your form tutor for the duration of your time here at Northern Academy. Those of you sitting in this room will be classmates for the following few years, so I believe it's best that you get to know each other a little better. After I take the register I will be pairing you off with another student you do not know and the two of you will just have a little chat. Alright? Excellent!"

Korra blinked as she watched him settle behind his desk. He was clearly trying to be friendly but there was something about him that gave her the impression that he wasn't particularly happy to be there. She could only guess that he'd been a teacher at this school for a long time, and was maybe bored? Regardless, it didn't instill her with much confidence.

Once the register had been gone through, Mr Nguyen began walking around the room and assigning the students a partner. He was clearly making sure that students that had come from the same school were divided up almost immediately, this included a large group of boys who had taken over the centre of the room. Korra soon found herself in the company of one of these boys, much to her unease.

He was tall, taller than she was, with pale skin and locks of black hair that fell across his angular face. He carried himself in a way that was so confident it was almost cocky, and it put Korra's back up almost immediately. Flipping his hair he gave her a sidelong look and a smug smile.

"Hi, the name's Tahno. You are...?" Korra licked her lips nervously. She had barely spoken to anyone for the past few months, so now talking to someone who was completely new threw her off in a way. Eventually she opened her mouth to speak, only for Tahno's hand to shoot up in the air. "Sir? Can I switch? This one's not talking!"

A wave of laughter rippled across the classroom, causing Korra to sit up straight and glare at the guy beside her.

"Hey, that's not fair!" She protested, to which Tahno just shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah sure, whatever." He replied smugly before getting up and moving to a different chair despite Mr Nguyen's protests.

Korra felt anger bubbling up under the surface, but it was quickly quenched as she felt the eyes of her fellow classmates upon her. Embarrassment replaced anger and she shrunk in her chair with her eyes glued to the desk in front of her.

That, unfortunately, seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day. During each class she deliberately sat all the way in the back and kept her head down. The embarrassment from earlier still hadn't worn off, it was as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath her; she hadn't felt very confident going into this new environment and now she felt even worse. Any remaining confidence she had left her the moment she opened her mouth.

Some of the other students made an effort to talk with her and she tried her best to maintain a conversation, but it would slowly drift into awkward silence. It wasn't like she didn't want to talk, it was just that the incident with Tahno that had really thrown her off; even she was surprised as how much of a shut in she was being at that moment.

When the bell signalling the end of the day sounded and she clambered back onto the bus, all she could think about was getting back home to her bed. Her mother was there the minute she opened the door, eagerly questioning her about her first day. She managed to smile and nod her way through question after question before finally making her way up the stairs. Closing her door she slumped onto her bed. This didn't feel fair to her at all. From what she'd heard Secondary school was a place where you could find yourself, and so far all she'd found was that it was very easy for her to feel humiliated. Any slight flicker of hope she'd had about starting over again had been dashed and she felt… well, she wasn't sure exactly how she felt. It was a mixture of nerves and anger and… emptiness?

Not even bothering to change she grabbed her duvet covers and pulled them up over her body; curling up in a ball and closing her eyes. She hoped that tomorrow would be a better day for her, but there was a part of her in the back of her mind that knew that wasn't going to be the case.


	10. In The Firing Line

_**...So it's been a while, huh?  
I feel a bit awkward about saying this but I need to be honest: I've actually been cross posting this story on another site, and it seems that, for some reason, I forgot that I hadn't uploaded the latest chapter on here.**_

 _ **So I'm sorry to all my readers who were waiting, I had no intention of forgetting you, and don't take this as another site taking priority, I just got mixed up.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy reading!**_

She knew it.

The following day, and many days after that, everything just seemed to get worse. She slowly felt more and more detached from her peers and it began to show. What made things even worse is that the guy from before, Tahno, had clearly made her his prime target. He would take any opportunity to poke fun at her during class, more often than not in front of his group of friends that would join in on the fun. With no idea of what she'd done, all Korra could do was stare down at her work and stay silent. The hope was that if she didn't react to his constant teasing that he'd leave her alone, but it just seemed to do the opposite; it was as if her lack of response was giving him more freedom as he knew she wouldn't retaliate.

The teachers, far from helping her out of the situation, would always end up making it worse. If he ever said anything across the classroom to her, he would be chastised, but it was more as if the teacher saw it as something playful instead of what it really was. Also when any group activities took place they would always put them in the same group for some reason, as if it was their way of trying to getting them to work through their differences. That didn't help at all; it just gave Tahno even more opportunities to tease her.

She knew she was more vulnerable now due to her introverted behaviour, but she was almost certain even the past, more positive and outgoing Korra would have struggled to handle what this new environment was throwing at her. Her parents had spoken keenly about how secondary school was the place where you found out who you were, but from Korra's standpoint that wasn't the case at all. Finding out who you were? No, it was where other people tried to figure that out _for_ you, and if you didn't fit into a specific box you were teased or ostracized from social groups. This school was just a place where a bunch of kids with rampant hormones were crammed together and left to their own devices.

Speaking of hormones… her body was definitely changing.

Despite the talks she'd had with her mum and the awkwardly run presentations at her old school, nothing could really fully prepare her for what was the start of emotional and physical turmoil. She had been told that at the beginning of her monthly cycles she would feel somewhat odd since it was a new experience for her, but it would soon become the norm. That hadn't happened to her. If anything, she felt worse. It didn't feel natural for her body to be doing this, and the knowledge of why her body was doing this made her feel sick to her stomach. This wasn't a bodily function she felt would ever be normal, she hadn't even felt interested from a novelty point of view. She felt so disconnected from that part of her body at those times.

Then, of course, there were the cramps.

If feeling low wasn't enough, she had to deal with constant waves of stabbing pain that would render her unable to sleep or focus properly. Apparently, the women in her family had a history of experiencing painful cramps; something she wished she'd never found out.

All in all, her first year of secondary school was turning out to be a pretty terrible one. She managed to get through it though - keeping her head down she did her best not to draw attention to herself, and whenever her parents asked how she was she would just offer a smile and the generic 'I'm fine' while inside she felt like hell. Talking to her parents about it would have seemed like an easy option, but she genuinely felt no desire to do so. Sharing her feelings with them now would mean taking too much effort to do so; she'd have to go through everything that she had dealt with and was still dealing with and relive it all again. Not only that, but there was a constant nagging worry in the back of her mind that said that they might not believe her.

So, at the end of the day, she did her best getting through the year one day at a time. During half term and many of the bank holidays, she once again shut herself in her room, her drums her only constant companion. When it got too late in the day to drum (the neighbours had complained several times about her causing too much noise so late at night) she would sit on her bed and write. What she wrote weren't masterpieces or designed to be so, instead, they were more like therapy, creating new worlds and distracting her from her everyday reality.

A reality which was soon to come crashing down on her and push her to a breaking point.

It happened in French class; they were split off into pairs to practice talking to one another about set topics in French, which meant their seats were temporarily switched, leaving the majority of their items aside from their workbooks on their original table. Unfortunately for Korra, Tahno 'conveniently' chose to take her seat during this assignment, and took an unsurprising interest in her leftover items.

She tried her best to ignore him as he picked up her planner and flicked through it, snickering at the various doodles she'd drawn in the borders. As much as the invasion of her privacy frustrated her she kept working, only flicking her eyes over to him once in a while.

When this didn't get a reaction from her, Tahno changed his plan. He opened her pencil case and rummaged through it, grabbing the black marker from its interior and selecting a page from her planner, ensuring he was looking her way before beginning to deface the pages. She tried to ignore him, she really did, but when she glanced over and locked eyes with him before her gaze travelled down to her planner and the crude drawings now covering the pages she snapped.

Now, Korra wasn't what people would consider an angry person, far from it, but this to her was the last straw. Too many times had Tahno pushed her and pushed her and right now she couldn't stop the overwhelming feeling of anger consume her. She swiftly got up from her seat and stormed over, grabbing the now defaced planner from a grinning Tahno's grasp and brought it down swiftly in the direction of his head.

"Stop it!" She cried, her voice cracking slightly as the frustration overwhelmed her. She didn't even realize what she was doing until it was already done. The planner didn't even hit Tahno, clipped his ear at best, but he knew what he was doing. With a yelp, his hands flew to his head which he cradled defensively in a dramatic fashion. Anyone observing the situation throughout would have clearly seen he was unscathed, but to the ever-distracted Mrs Nivelle, their teacher, whose gaze had been directed elsewhere, the circumstances were very different.

All she heard was two cries followed by the sight of Tahno holding his head while Korra stood over him, clutching her planner tightly and shaking with anger.

"Korra!"

Hearing her name, all the adrenaline coursing through her system swiftly drained from her and she slowly turned, her face turning white as she realized the situation she was now in. She opened her mouth to protest but wasn't given the chance to give any sort of explanation.

"Outside, now." Came the firm response, to which Korra bowed her head, her bottom lip quivering as she slowly, shakily walked past the rows of wide-eyed fellow students, dropping her planner on her desk and headed out of the door.

Once the door shut behind her the gravity of the situation finally sank in. She swallowed and let out a strangled sob as she leant against the wall beside the door. She'd never been in trouble before, not ever, and now for her to be punished for simply standing up for herself (arguably in an incorrect way, she realised in hindsight) made her feel sick to her stomach.

She was probably outside for ten minutes or so while Mrs Nivelle attended to Tahno and made sure the other students would be kept occupied while she left the room. Those ten minutes were, in Korra's eyes, the longest ten minutes she'd ever experienced and she knew that the longer she waited, the worse her stress became.

Finally, the classroom door opened and Mrs Nivelle stepped out. She looked over at the trembling Korra and let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"You know Korra, I'm surprised to be in this situation with you. You're one of the most well-behaved students in my class." The look in her eyes was one of disappointment, prompting Korra to speak.

"H-he was winding me up, Miss" Korra said quietly, nervously meeting her teacher's gaze. "He took my planner and-"

She was cut off by Mrs Nivelle gently raising her hand.

"I know what he did" she replied "I looked through your planner when you left and he has been reprimanded accordingly. However, regardless of who started what, any attempt of violence be it large or small is taken very seriously here, do you understand?"

Korra wanted to keep talking, wanted to make Mrs Nivelle understand why she'd done what she did, but instead she nodded, murmuring a quiet agreement in reply as she bowed her head.

"At the end of the lesson" the teacher continued "I will be sending you down to the principal's office where you will stay for the duration of your lunch hour"

Korra's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest, but Mrs Nivelle shook her head "I know what you're going to say. That what you did just now was a one-time incident, and it'll never happen again… but you have to understand that we cannot be seen to let something like this go unpunished."

Korra stared at her, stunned. So, she was to understand that a one-off case of retaliation was to be reprimanded, and yet the months of teasing and harassment that lead her to react in such a way was to just be pushed under the rug? If she was a bolder person she would have spoken out against what she considered such an injustice, but she could see in Mrs Nivelle's eyes that any attempt to protest further would result in her punishment worsening.

So, despite her gut screaming at her to defend herself, she submitted and nodded her head once again. Mrs Nivelle patted her on the shoulder and opened the door to the classroom, leading her back inside.

For the remainder of the lesson, Korra did her best to work through her tasks; however, she could see Tahno out of the corner of her eye sneering at her. He'd won. She'd tried to defend herself and he'd still managed to come out on top… it was ridiculous.

When the bell finally rang, she packed up her bags and waited for the rest of the students to leave. Tahno of course, shouldered past her with a smirk on his lips as he left her to her fate.

Mrs Nivelle then lead Korra down the steps and along the long corridor to her destination. She could have walked there by herself, but apparently, the protocol was that students had to be escorted to the principal's office… Korra could only assume it was because many students would try to evade their punishment.

When she got there, she was let into an area that appeared to be a waiting room of sorts. A row of chairs were lined up along one wall, with a large doorway across from them on the opposite wall. Mrs Nivelle gestured to an empty seat and left her alone, closing the door behind her.

She sat there in silence for a moment, trying her best to calm her nerves while she waited to be called in. She could feel the stress rising and was silently thankful for the quiet room as it gave her time and space to make an attempt at pushing that stress down and out of her mind.

This didn't last long, however.

Outside she heard the sound of raised voices before the door swung open once more.

"Yeah yeah I know where I'm going, what are you my fucking babysitter?" The voice was loud, blunt and intimidating. Also, to her surprise, it sounded very much feminine.

"Language!" came a stern voice which Korra presumed belonged to a teacher. Wait, was this student swearing at a teacher? She couldn't believe her ears; her interest piqued she glanced up to see just who this person was.

She was tall, with pale skin and long black hair that was pulled back in a firm plait. Her green eyes were narrowed and her lips curled in a look of irritation. She gave off an aura of someone who was definitely not to be messed with.

As a result Korra felt uneasy in this girl's presence, made even worse by the fact that said girl decided to take a seat right beside her. She swallowed and looked down at the ground, trying her best not to draw attention to herself. This girl gave off a similar air to Tahno and Korra was not about to let herself become a target for yet another student.

This clearly wasn't going to be an effective strategy as they were the only two in the room, and the silence was definitely a tense one.

"So, what are you in for?"

The voice almost startled Korra, sitting up she looked over to see the girl looking at her, a slightly amused expression on her face. She was slouched, one arm across the back of the chair in such a casual position that Korra could only guess that this situation was one she was used to.

She gulped, realizing she had to reply.

"Uh… "

The girl raised an eyebrow and chuckled, sitting forward in her chair.

"C'mon, I don't bite." She said with a small smile on her lips. "We're both here in line for the chopping block, might as well share stories to pass the time, right?"

Korra swallowed again, tugging at the sleeves of her blazer.

"I… I hit someone over the head with my planner." She said quietly. "He's been teasing and harassing me since the start of the year."

The intimidating girl blew out a puff of air before sighing.

"Sorry to hear that. What's happened to him then? What's his punishment?" When Korra looked at her in astonishment, she raised an eyebrow and looked confused herself. "Seriously, why is that so shocking. Obviously, the dickhead did something to deserve it, seeing as he's been giving you shit for a while now, so what's happening to him?"

Korra looked down, cheeks red from upset anger.

"Mrs. Nivelle said he had been 'reprimanded accordingly' for drawing stuff in my planner with a marker he stole from my pencil case." Korra said, voice tense and obviously irritated. "Sorry, I just…" She trailed off, embarrassed at the fact she was saying way too much about the situation to a stranger who could very well take Tahno's side.

"Well, that's complete and utter fucking bullshit."

Korra tensed, never having been around someone who swore so casually before in everyday conversation. She realised, however, it was also partly due to the fact she was obviously angry.

"Yeah." Korra agreed quietly, and before she knew it she had a pale hand shoved in front of her face. She looked at it, nervous, for a moment.

"I'm Kuvira."

"Oh." Korra said, tentatively shaking the girl's hand. "Korra."

"So, who is this dude who's been 'reprimanded' by the most distracted teacher in the school?" Kuvira asked casually, as if she hadn't just gone on a pretty intense swearing spree - in Korra's opinion.

"Oh, his name's Tahno."

Kuvira laughed shortly. "I know his type. They come up to Secondary school having been the popular kid who was the biggest bully but always got away with it, and you couldn't ever do anything about it because their parents would refuse to believe such a thing could happen. They come to school and immediately find someone to fuck with. They chose you either because they find it funny to see you cry and to see you angry, or the lack of response spurs them on. There is never any winning with them because their head is too fucking big for anything to get through to them."

"You know the type?" Korra asked shyly.

"I _was_ the type." Kuvira admitted. "But then I lost pretty much everyone very, very quickly since they realised I was actually kind of a shitty person and without a bunch of people to tell me what I was doing was 'epic' and 'awesome' I stopped it all. Hell, I even stopped going to lessons because suddenly I was really fucking Lonely."

Letting the words sink in, Korra leant back in her chair. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond, after all it wasn't every day that someone she had just met was so quick to converse with her. Her silence was clearly very telling to Kuvira as the paler girl let out a low chuckle and shook her head.

"You're really not the chatty type huh? Don't worry, I get it." She continued when Korra made a move to apologize, wide-eyed. "By the looks of you, you're in your first year, year seven's usually aren't the chatty types; bet you spend most of your time scurrying between classes hoping not to make eye contact with any of the older fuckers."

Korra couldn't help but let out a slight snort of surprise, she'd really got her all figured out.

"Pretty much..." She muttered, leaning back in her chair and turning to look at her new companion fully. "What year are you in then? Don't think I've seen you around before." In her head she knew that she'd remember if she'd come into contact with this girl. She was hard to miss.

"Hah! Now that's a good question." Came a slightly amused response as Kuvira stretched, cracking her neck as she did so which made Korra wince.

"You know how I said I stopped going to lessons? Well, 'cause of that my grades pretty much went to shit. I was in this fancy ass private school at the time, not my choice but apparently the family had some connections there and I got a place. Wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise. Anyway, after my behaviour, I was told by the parents that it would be 'in my best interests' to move to a different school. I knew that was bullshit, of course; the school I was at just didn't want me anymore. Those places care more about their appearances than their students. Fucking mental."

She shook her head and continued.

"So I started here in year eight. But because I flunked my classes the year before I have to take additional classes with some of you lot." She eyed Korra briefly. "No offence, but I had a whole year of dealing with a load of socially awkward kids, the last thing I needed was to be surrounded by them yet again. They don't mess with me though, apparently my reputation precedes me." A slightly smug grin spread across her face at that. "Granted, I don't bully like I used to, but if I come across someone who thinks it's wise to go after those weaker than them, I'm not afraid to make a stand. Gotta stand up for the little people you know?"

Nodding in interest, Korra couldn't help but find herself intrigued. She almost felt bad for being so hesitant to speak to Kuvira before, as aside from the rampant swearing, she seemed like a pretty decent person. She was about to speak again when the door across from them swung open. The principal stepped out and, upon seeing Kuvira sitting there, sighed and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. You again..." She shook her head. "Alright, let's get this over with, come on." She opened the door wider and gestured inside. Kuvira glanced over at Korra, shrugging her shoulders. "Seems I'm a more pressing issue than you are, well-" She got up, cracking her neck once more followed by her knuckles. "Was nice talking to you, I'll see you around sometime, huh?" She gave a wry smile to which Korra responded with a smile of her own, followed by a nod.

It was a while before Korra was called in, and everything then seemed to go by so fast, her mind still half focused on her conversation with Kuvira (she could recall that she had simply been let off with a warning, but that was it). Before she knew it, she was out of the office and watching from a distance as the older girl walked down the hall, too far ahead for Korra to call out to her or catch up.

The afternoon and evening went by in the same fashion, being distracted largely by the fact she wished she could carry on the conversation with someone who had the potential of actually being a decent person in her school that she could get on with, so for the first time, she wasn't completely dreading the day as she arrived at school.

She had been on her way to form when she bumped into Kuvira. Well, bumped into wasn't quite the word. She had been off in her own world as she walked along when the familiar voice cut through to her.

"Oi! Korra!"

Korra practically jumped and quickly turned her head, only to relax slightly as she realized just who it was. Kuvira had been leant against the wall presumably to keep out of the way of the morning rush. Now, however she pushed off from the wall and sauntered over, blowing a strand of hair that had come loose from her plait out of her eyes as a crooked grin spread across her lips.

"Thought it was you." She said with a chuckle. "How'd it go? You don't seem too shaken up so I'm guessing it your talk with the beast herself wasn't that bad?"

Korra felt herself chuckle slightly at that and shrugged her shoulders

"Uh, not too bad I think? She said it seemed like a one-off thing so I just got a warning this time. Any more though… " She trailed off.

Kuvira snorted.

"Don't take that to heart. She's full of threats, that woman, but most of them are empty." Patting the younger girl on the shoulder, she began walking with her.

Korra couldn't help but notice that some of the younger students ahead of them appeared to be moving out of the way, giving them more space. Seems Kuvira wasn't kidding, she really did have a reputation. Which furthered her curiosity. She didn't consider herself to be a particularly interesting person, so why Kuvira had sought her out yet again baffled her.

"So, where's your form room?" Kuvira continued, glancing about her as the pair of them walked together down the hall. Korra blinked and glanced up at her.

"Uh... It's just to the left down there, I.T room 3." She said, pointing in the general direction of her destination. Kuvira's gaze followed her finger and nodded.

"Right, let's get you there then huh? Pretty sure you don't wanna be late."

Korra tilted her head quizzically. "Don't you have your own form room to get to?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean- not that I don't appreciate the company but..." She trailed off.

"Eh, I'd rather see you get there first." came Kuvira's reply as she shrugged her shoulders. "What with all the shit you got into yesterday my guess is the last thing you need is more trouble. Besides, I want to get a look at this prick Tahno." Once again she patted Korra's shoulder, the corner of her lip curling up in a grin.

This sudden protective behaviour caught Korra off guard somewhat; then she remembered that Kuvira had told her she was always looking out for the 'little people' which in Korra's mind were those who weren't able to defend themselves. This made the younger girl smile a little to herself, a smile that quickly went away when she rounded a corner and spotted Tahno and his cronies hanging around her form room door.

It was as if Kuvira could sense her change in behaviour; she looked up and narrowed her eyes before leaning in Korra's direction.

"That him?" She asked in a hushed tone to which Korra nodded. The pale girl let out a puff of air before cracking her knuckles, then she glanced over at the visibly nervous Korra. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna beat him up or anything." She said with a chuckle. "I'm just preparing myself… just in case."

As they came closer, Korra saw Tahno's head turn in her direction. The smug sneer that spread across his face was swiftly replaced with surprise, his eyebrows raising as he noticed Kuvira beside her. It became apparent that he, too, was aware of Kuvira's reputation; so despite clearly not being as intimidated as his peers, he did step back a bit as they approached and kept his mouth shut for once. When they got to the door, Kuvira shouldering a couple of his lackies out of the way, she once again patted Korra on the shoulder and grinned.

"Right, I'm gonna head off now, you stay out of trouble alright? I'll see you at lunch or whatever."

Korra nodded shyly and waved her goodbye, heading through the door of her form room. Shortly after though, Tahno followed her, his arms folded and a smirk on his face.

"So, you got yourself a bodyguard now?" Korra blinked and opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off.

"You bet your ass she does!" The pair of them turned to see Kuvira stood on the doorway, cracking her knuckles. She'd clearly been waiting around the corner out of sight just in case. Taking a step towards Tahno she glowered at him. "So if you fuck with her, you fuck with me, got it?" She said as she jabbed her finger into Tahno's chest.

Korra had never seen Tahno scared before, but this came pretty close; his expression was wide eyed and slack-jawed for a moment before he shook himself out of it and took a step back.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." He grumbled as he stalked off to his seat, his gang of wannabe thugs trailing behind.

Turning back to Kuvira Korra gave her a shy smile.

"Thanks." She said quietly. "I knew he was going to say something."

"Why do you think I stuck around?" Kuvira replied with a grin. "Like I said, I was just like him once upon a time, I know the tactics guys like him use to take advantage of their victims." She sighed again, giving Korra a smile. "Well, anyways, I've really got to go now. Only so many times I can be late before I get my head bitten off. See ya." She turned on her heel and headed out of the door, Korra saying her own goodbye before taking her seat at the back and waiting for the register to begin.

The next few days followed the same pattern: Kuvira would meet her in the halls and walk her to her form room. It had been a surprise for Korra at first, but eventually she started looking forward to her brief conversations with the paler companion, finding herself growing more confident in her presence. The trouble with Tahno didn't go away completely, but her interactions with him and definitely been reduced and she couldn't help but feel thankful for Kuvira's part in the matter.

She found herself able to talk a bit more in class; not a lot mind you as she was still shy as anything, but without the constant threat of Tahno looming over her she felt as if she could relax a little more.

As she talked more with Kuvira, she began to learn she had a much softer side than she first thought. Behind the tough exterior was a genuine, caring person who only really caused trouble when she was standing up for others. She held a strong belief in being a mouthpiece for those in need and Korra had the utmost respect for her as she herself had none of the confidence.

Eventually she plucked up the courage to approach Kuvira during lunch, to which Kuvira promptly responded with offering her a seat beside her which soon became a permanent one. There would be times she would be worried she was too dependant on her new companion's company but Kuvira was quick to dismiss her fears, stating she also enjoyed Korra's company. It was clear that both of them had met each other at the right place at the right time.


	11. Family Ties

… _ **.So it happened again. I'm genuinely so sorry that I keep forgetting to update on here, it's not intentional. I'm not going to go too much into it again as I'd just be repeating myself, I hope this chapter was worth the wait! To make it up to you I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow, all the more for you to read!**_

 _ **Seriously though, I'm sorry, I really do appreciate the feedback you all give me and how much you enjoy reading my little fic.**_

 _ **Til tomorrow!**_

 _ **-Kieran**_

There was certainly a degree of hesitation from a few of Korra's teachers as they became aware of her budding friendship with Kuvira. They, too, had either dealt with the rebellious young teen themselves or had been told of her reputation by their co-workers. They hadn't gotten involved as of yet as the majority of them weren't too invested in any student's individual learning experience, but Korra was sure that if they _did_ get involved it wouldn't be because they were worried for her specifically, it would be more along the lines of them preventing another student from becoming too outspoken. That was something that the young student had picked up on; that they were more focused on the school's appearance to the outside world than they were on situations that impacted a student's environment. Her experience regarding Tahno was a perfect example of this, as the majority of teachers who had been witness to his past harassment of her had been quick to pass it off as something less than it was; the principal, it seemed, took great pride in announcing that no bullying took place in their school regardless of whether it was the truth or not.

She just pushed the majority of incidents brought to her under the rug.

For Korra, the more she observed the school environment, the more she was glad that she had Kuvira for support. The older girl was clearly able to see through a lot of the smoke and mirrors put into place by the educational system and keep Korra in the know. Yes, as she built up her own confidence there were times that they butted heads, but what with Kuvira being so headstrong all the time it made perfect sense and Korra wouldn't change it for the world. The two grew close remarkably fast; Korra, to her surprise, found herself fitting into the role of the more level-headed companion, knowing when Kuvira was about to take things too far and being able to reel her in. This was the polar opposite of the person she'd been when she was younger and certainly gave her a newfound respect for her past companions for having the patience to deal with her.

Past companions… Now _that_ at times made her stomach twinge. The more confident she grew the more guilt she felt towards Opal. The two had ended their friendship in such a messy way, something which Korra was now able to take full responsibility for. There had been times when she'd seriously wonder if it would be too late to offer at least an apology to her old friend, but a part of her reasoned that she should at least try. Eventually, one weekend she plucked up the courage to cycle to her house and make some attempt to speak with her. She'd rehearsed what she was going to say the whole way there only to arrive to find the house was empty. The family were most likely away on another family trip, and Korra took this as a sign that she should back off; granted she could call, but… Using the phone was getting increasingly stressful for her. She couldn't do it.

Kuvira was never told about any of this and Korra knew what she'd say. She'd probably give her a clip over the ears and say she was being a 'fucking wuss' or something along those lines. It was blunt but she knew it was Kuvira's way of showing she cared.

So, on a hot summer's day, when they were lounging in the shade of one of the many trees that crowded the borders of the school's football field, the topics raised were substantially different. The pair had been snacking on the remnants of their lunches while watching a group of male students play a rather messy game of football. One of the taller, lankier guys was passed the ball and made an attempt to head the ball to the goal, but tripped over his own feet in the process. The ball, however, still managed to slip between the two screwed up jumpers that were used as rudimentary goal posts as the goalkeeper was equally lacking in hand-eye coordination and focus.

Kuvira snorted, glancing over at Korra and rolling her eyes.

"What a wonderful display of total fucking idiocy, eh? I could play better than that with my eyes closed!" Korra chuckled and shook her head having now adjusted to her friend's casual use of crasse language. Kuvira continued her commentary. "And look! He's still getting the attention he was after." She gestured to the edge of the field where a group of girls were seated, a few of them cheering and descending into giggles when the source of their entertainment looked their way and flashed a bashful grin.

"For fuck sake..." Kuvira muttered. "I swear, those girls will do anything if it means getting a guy's attention." She flicked her hair over her shoulder in a large gesture. "Ooo, look at me! A boy looked my way I'm sooo special!" She batted her eyelashes in an obvious and overly dramatic imitation of the gaggle of air-headed teens.

With a roll of her own eyes Korra leaned back against the tree, biting her lip to stop herself from bursting out laughing. "Not looking for a guy yourself then, huh?" She asked teasingly, to which Kuvira raised her eyebrows incredulously.

"Ugh, me? Piss off." She gave Korra a slight shove and chuckled. "As if any of them could keep up with me, I'd wipe the floor with any of their scrawny asses." She grasped another handful of crisps from her blazer pocket. "Why'd you ask? You liking the look of any of any of these _perfect_ displays of manliness in front of us?" She gave Korra a playful grin and the younger girl just let out a puff of air, shaking her head.

"Eh… not really. I've never really gotten the point of this whole 'boyfriend' thing. Like, almost all the girls in my form have had at least two or three boyfriends so far this year, and I just haven't liked anyone… It's kinda weird, I guess."

Kuvira was quick to jump in.

"Nah, there's nothing weird about that. When I started school I saw all the girls around me getting boyfriends, but I quickly realized it's not because they liked them, it's mostly for appearances. Either that, or all this crap we're being fed in rom coms and romance novels telling us that if we don't find the love of our life by the time we're sixteen then we're fucked." The older girl let out another snort. "And I've been around enough sixteen year olds to know that they're far from adults, hell, I've even met twenty year olds who don't act like adults at all."

Korra gave a quiet nod, her gaze trailing back over the the match. In the summer heat two of the guys had abandoned their polo shirts and sprinted back into the fray shirtless. She scrunched her nose up in envy. She used to be able to do the same thing when she was little, but the second she hit double figures she was told she had to cover up. Kuvira noticed her expression and raised an eyebrow. Korra noticed her looking at her and sighed.

"Don't worry about it, it's just… I wish I could do that, I'm sick and tired of overheating so easily"

Kuvira tilted her head. "Huh… never thought about it like that. Still, you're wearing a skirt, surely that helps cool you down right?"

"Ugh..." Korra groaned at that and hugged her knees. "Don't get me started… Yeah, it keeps me cool, but I can't stand skirts. They make me feel so exposed and they look weird, not to mention all those bloody teachers walking around with tape measures making sure you're not wearing your skirt too high-" She saw Kuvira watching her, surprised and stopped herself. "... Sorry..." She looked down at the ground, tugging at the strands of grass around her feet.

It was quiet for a moment, both of them equally as surprised by her outburst, but the older girl spoke once again. "...Damn, didn't know you felt so strongly about skirts." She chuckled quietly. "They really stress you out that much, huh?" Korra nodded, brows knitted together in irritation; her mind now occupied with less than happy thoughts. Kuvira, noting the change in Korra's body language, decided it was best to change the topic. "So..." She clicked her tongue, racking her brain for ideas. Drawing a blank she went with a default. "What are you doing later? Anything special?"

Korra groaned and leaned back against the tree, shaking her head. "Eh... probably not. Just gonna go home, do my homework, play my drums maybe..."

"Hold on, you play the drums?!" The older girl sat up straight, staring at her companion with surprise. Korra nodded, eyeing her companion nervously.

"Yes…?"

"Seriously? I didn't know that about you at all. We've been friends for what, months now? And I had no idea you played drums? That's so fucking awesome! Hang on-" She rummaged in the inner pocket of her blazer and pulled a battered looking mp3 player out of her pocket. Turning it on she flicked through a list of songs, finally settling on one and handing Korra one half of the headphones with a grin on her face. Taking it hesitantly Korra gave her friend a confused look before popping the headphone in her ear. She was greeted with a blast of noise that caught her off guard to begin with, but after a few moments her eyes widened and she began bobbing her head to the beat, Kuvira watching her with a grin.

Once the current song ended, the headphones were returned and the mp3 went back into Kuvira's pocket. Korra, somewhat transfixed by the music, stared at Kuvira wide-eyed

"What… who was that?"

"A little band called System Of A Down" Came Kuvira's smug reply. "One of, if not my favourite bands. The best song hands down is Chop Suey - the one you just listened to."

"I don't think I've ever listened to something so… aggressive?" Korra shook her head in fascination to which Kuvira chuckled.

"Think you could do that?"

"Do what?"

"The drumming. Don't tell me you couldn't feel the beat of that."

There was a moment of hesitation before Korra spoke again.

"Uh... maybe? I don't know but I wanna learn it" The younger girl's eyes lit up, tapping her fingers on her knees in excitement as her mind began racing.

Watching her friend's obvious excitement, Kuvira chuckled. "Well, I figured as much, hang on." She unzipped her bag and pulled out a blank CD in a clear plastic sleeve. "I made a copy of the tracks." She explained to her confused companion. "See, I used to burn them onto CD's and sell them to classmates, but when I realized it was more trouble than it's worth… not to mention illegal... I stopped, but I still kept the old copies. Sometimes it's kinda fun to pop one of these in a school computer and have it blasting when another student boots it up." She chuckled for a moment at what was clearly a memory. "But here, you'd get a better use out of it." She handed it to Korra who took it, wide-eyed.

"...You sure?" She asked, flicking her eyes up back and forth between the item and Kuvira. Her companion nodded, ruffling the younger girl's hair.

"Like I said, you'll get a better use out of it."

Korra nodded enthusiastically and leaned forward to give her companion a hug, but was met with a hand smooshed in her face.

"No way, remember what I said? You want a hug, you can hug the damn tree." Kuvira said flatly, but there was a certain degree of amusement in her voice. Korra shuffled back awkwardly, having forgotten that despite Kuvira's caring nature towards her she seemed to lack the desire for physical contact. It was still odd to her as she still had that affectionate side to her that she'd been so open with during primary school, but she understood that some people just didn't enjoy hugs as much as she did.

Opening her mouth to apologize, she was cut off when the bell sounded, marking the start of fifth period. Kuvira grunted and got up with a stretch, looking down at her younger friend in amusement.

"Right, guess that's my cue to leave." She pulled Korra to her feet and patted her on the shoulder as if reading her mind. "C'mon, don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

Korra gave a small nod, followed by a smile before the pair of them parted ways, each having their final lessons for the day at opposite ends of the school grounds.

Thankfully, Korra's final lesson of the day was Art. Her teacher, Mr Kumar, was very laid back and would be more lenient with his students than most, which was both a blessing and a curse depending on how you looked at it. Usually for Korra it meant she ended up being left alone as the rest of the students would move seats to sit and chat with their friends as they drew. Most of the time it saddened her as she had no one to talk to, but this time around she was thankful about being given her own space. Seeing how Mr Kumar had been so lapsed about what students did, she saw no harm in listening to some music while she worked. She had a rather clunky portable CD player in her bag that her father had given her when she'd started school, but being the sort of person who didn't really enjoy listening to music on the regular she barely used it. Now, however, it had the perfect use. She popped in the headphones and clicked play, soon nodding her head to the beat and drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Any bemused looks or giggles directed her way went unnoticed as her mind was totally focused elsewhere; up until now she'd only been comfortable listening to music from the confines of her room, so having the sounds surrounding her and blocking out the noises from her classmates enabled her to slip into her own little world.

The headphones stayed in her ears for the entire journey home too, her mind drifting off as she took in the sounds flowing into her ears. Sure it was mostly just the one song on repeat but she didn't feel she could get sick of it. It was fun to just sit there in silence and have something to occupy her thoughts aside from her constant worries.

Pausing the music momentarily to greet her mother when she finally got home, she hopped up the stairs and into her room. After that it was a simple matter of popping the disc into her CD player and turning it up as loudly as she wanted, listening to it over and over again while making many an attempt to imitate what she was hearing on her own drums. She was having fun… her parents, not so much. They were most likely regretting buying her that drum kit, but they could draw comfort from the fact that she was keeping herself busy, at least.

She had to stop eventually, of course; drumming wasn't the type of activity one could do long into the evening, but luckily she was still able to listen to the music whenever she wanted thanks to her headphones. Which is exactly what she did. After having her tea and engaging in only brief conversation with her parents she scampered back up the stairs and sat at her desk with her headphones in. Sure her homework took longer whilst her mind was partially distracted by the beat but she was happier and to her that's really what really mattered to her.

The next morning she put the headphones in before getting on the bus in the morning and found she was able to mentally prepare herself for the day ahead of her at a much quicker pace than usual thanks to the music filling her ears. At lunch she enthusiastically recalled to Kuvira her first attempt at imitating the drum solo to her companion's great interest and amusement. At the end of the day she'd put the headphones back in again to block out the sound of her rowdy peers; being quiet and staying within her own imagination had never been this fun.

After that, the following days continued with the same schedule as she built up her skills and knowledge of the music. Kuvira seemed impressed by what Korra was telling her, but every time she invited her round to watch her play, the older girl would decline, stating she wasn't able to make it and quickly change the topic when Korra would press for reasons. This saddened Korra somewhat as she was eager to show her friend how much she had learned so far, and as a result she would keep asking on and off. Usually in these sorts of situations Korra would take a step back, but Kuvira was her friend, and had been the one to help her build her confidence, so this time round she wouldn't let up. She'd bring up the question every now and again only to receive the same response. She'd pout and whine and Kuvira would just roll her eyes, playfully mentioning that Korra looked like she was having a tantrum to which Korra would grumble and stick out her tongue before swatting at the older girl. This would often result in them having play fights, mostly resulting in Korra losing and ending up with grass in her hair and all over the back of her blazer. She would get looks from her teachers when she'd attend fifth period, but she eventually learned to ignore them. The blazers were black anyway, so she knew there wasn't going to be any stains.

Eventually, after weeks of pestering, Korra's persistence paid off. Lunch break had just finished and they were heading back inside. The younger girl had brought up the topic shortly before and they were currently walking in silence for some reason. Korra found this odd as Kuvira was usually chatting away as a way to change the direction of the conversation, but this time it was like she was deep in thought. The silence was broken when Kuvira spoke up again

"Heh… you really want me to come visit, huh?"

Korra blinked, surprised, but nodded swiftly. "Of course! Why would I ask if I didn't?"

"I dunno." Kuvira said with a shrug. "I just thought…. Anyways." She cleared her throat. "I guess I can make time."

"...Wait, really?" Came Korra's surprised reply. She hadn't expected such a sudden change of heart, but she welcomed it nonetheless.

"Duh." Replied Kuvira with a half smile. "I wouldn't say so otherwise. Why, you changed your mind all of a sudden?" She continued, quirking an eyebrow.

"No no! Of course not!" Came Korra's quick response. "I was just surprised, that's all. You've said no so many times… It caught me off guard I guess."

"Fair" Kuvira said, patting her companion on the shoulder. "But anyways, let's plan something yeah? Just gimme your address when you can and I'll come visit. You don't live too far away right? Cause I can probably bike there..." She tapped her lip, thinking.

Korra nodded. "Right, sure! Yeah, I don't live too far away, the roads get a bit narrow at times though, so you'll have to be careful." Hefting her bag off her back and unzipping it, she rummaged through before tearing out a scrap of paper from her notebook and scribbling her address down on it. "Here." She said, offering it to Kuvira with a grin ."I've put our home phone number on there too, just in case you wanna ring ahead and plan outside of school, yeah?" Kuvira took the paper, chuckling.

"You really are eager, huh? Wasn't expecting you to be so prompt giving me this. Guess I should take it as a compliment." She ruffled Korra's hair, causing the younger girl to pout that quickly turned back into a grin.

"Well yeah, you're my friend, why wouldn't I want you to come visit?" Korra replied, sticking her tongue out at her older companion. The two had a bit more of a shoving match as they headed back inside, earning several severe looks from the teachers they passed by. Neither payed them any mind though, as caught up as they were in their own little world.

As the day came to an end, Korra found herself walking with a little bounce in her step. It had been so long since she'd socialised out of school hours, and it certainly had perked her up more than expected. She hadn't had the chance to talk to Kuvira again that day, so she presumed that her friend would call her and organize something at a later date. This was exciting.

So, when she had finally gotten home and was up in her room finishing her homework, she had expected the knock at her bedroom door. However, when she opened it her mother wasn't standing with the phone in hand, instead she had a rather confused and slightly irritated look on her face.

"Korra… why didn't you say you were having a friend over to visit?"

Korra blinked. "Huh? I… I wasn't- I mean- I haven't-" she looked up at her mother wide-eyed.

"I see..." Came the flat reply, followed by a sigh. "Regardless, there's a young lady at the door, she says she's a friend of yours… Kuvira I think her name was?"

Korra stared silently for a moment before speaking. "Oh..! Yes I do know her… but, uh- I only gave her my address so she knew where to go when we'd made plans, she was supposed to call before..." She mumbled the last of the sentence. Her mother, seeing her child was clearly telling the truth, relented. She let out another sigh, but a calmer one this time.

"Well… alright then." she said shaking her head. "Since she's already here it would be rude of me to send her away, you have finished your homework though, right?"

Korra nodded, closing her notebook. "Yes! I finished it an hour ago, I was just writing some random uh... stuff."

"Well, if that's the case, I suppose a little impromptu visitation couldn't hurt. I haven't prepared anything extra for tea though, so she won't be able to stay too long."

"Okay mum." Korra responded as she got up from her chair and grinned. "We might just go for a bike ride or something then, if that's okay?" She looked up at her mother who stepped to one side, letting her pass.

"Just don't go too far, and be back in time for tea!" Senna called after her rapidly retreating daughter. She relaxed when Korra glanced over her shoulder and grinned, nodding briefly.

"Of course mum!" She exclaimed before hopping down the last step, making sure to grab a jacket and pulling it on as she headed out the door. Once closing it behind her she glanced around and noticed Kuvira stood a few feet away, holding her bike and with a smug grin on her face.

"You took your time." The older girl said with a chuckle.

"Only because you showed up without saying anything!" Korra said with an indignant huff as she unlocked her bike from the fence. "Sure I'm happy to see you, but you were supposed to ring ahead so we could plan what we were gonna do, not just appear." She pouted, causing the older girl to raise an eyebrow and shrug.

"Alright, sorry, lesson learned, huh? I'm guessing that's why your mum looked less than impressed to see me." The taller girl said in amusement as she hopped back on her bike. "So, where are we going then? I thought we were chilling at your place, but considering you just got your bike I'm guessing we're going somewhere."

"Well, we would have been able to stay home, if _someone_ had called ahead so my mum could plan the meal around an extra person." Korra replied with another pout. Kuvira rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Alright alright I get it, boy, you love to complain huh?" She laughed as she dodged Korra's attempt at a swipe in her direction. "Since your mum clearly doesn't want anyone else getting under her feet, what do you fancy doing? Got any ideas?"

Korra furrowed her brow, her fingers drumming on the handlebars of her bike as she thought. It didn't take too long for her to respond.

"Well, how about we go to yours then?"

Kuvira blinked, clearly surprised. "Uh... why?"

"Uh, hello? You came over unannounced to my house, seems only fair I get to do the same with yours too." Korra grinned, then hesitated when she noticed the change in her companion's body language. "What's wrong?" She asked hesitantly, as Kuvira stepped back slightly and looked down at the ground, clearly nervous. When she got no response she stepped forward towards the older girl, confused. "Did I say something wrong? I mean, I don't like showing up at someone's house without planning but in my defense… you did do that to me so..."

"I know I know..." Kuvira replied, shuffling from foot to foot. "I get it, but can we not?"

"...That's hardly fair." Korra continued, feeling herself becoming slightly irritated as well as confused by her friend's behaviour. "What, are you afraid of getting in trouble or something? No offence, but you don't really strike me as the type to worry about that sorta thing."

"I said no!"

Korra jumped, the sudden raising of Kuvira's voice catching her completely off-guard. Her friend was staring at the ground, her hands gripping the handlebars of her bike so tight that her knuckles were white. It wasn't anger though, Korra could tell that much; it seemed like maybe nerves? Anxiety? Regardless, this was very uncharacteristic of her. She never snapped at Korra; sure she raised her voice but this was different.

Kuvira, looking up and noticing Korra's shocked stance, shook her head and let out a long sigh.

"Sorry..." She said, her tone quiet now. "I didn't mean to shout like that. I just don't… ugh. Look." She got back on her bike and let out another sigh. "...Can we just go for a bike ride or something? I hate just standing here talking like this."

Korra stood there, still surprised, but hopped up onto her own bike when her companion began cycling off down the road.

"Hey! Wait!" She called out, beginning to frantically pedal after her friend. Sure that outburst had caught her off-guard, but she still wanted to know what was going on. Kuvira couldn't react like that and just leave; she should at least get some sort of explanation, right?

As she rounded a corner and Kuvira came back into view, she sped up in an attempt to catch up to her. Once parallel with the older girl she edged closer.

"Hey! Slow down!" She called out, panting slightly from the exertion. "I don't know what's up with you, but there's no need to run off like this. If I said something to upset you I'm sorry, but we can't leave things like this. Can we just stop for a moment and talk this out? Please?"

There was a moment of quiet between them, well, as quiet as two people riding bikes fast down a country lane could be. Then Kuvira's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Alright..." She mumbled, slowing her bike down. Eventually she turned onto a small patch of grass on the side of the road and got off, Korra following suit. After the two of them had pulled their bikes up onto the grass high enough to keep the road clear, Korra turned to Kuvira, a worried look in her eyes. She wasn't usually the one to be mature in these situations, but right now it felt necessary.

"Okay." She said calmly, sitting herself down on the grass and patting the patch beside her. "C'mon, talk to me."

Kuvira hesitated for a moment, before taking a seat beside her younger companion with a low grumble. Korra had a lot of questions, but decided to keep her mouth shut for now. The ball was in Kuvira's court now, not hers, and it wouldn't be fair for her to pressure her any more than she already had.

"...It's just awkward, that's all." Kuvira said quietly, causing Korra to raise a questioning eyebrow. Having noticed her friend's confusion, Kuvira let out a puff of air and slumped slightly before continuing.

"I just… you see. Where I live... It's not always been the same- and I don't mean it as in I've moved or anything like that." She continued as she spotted Korra about to open her mouth. "I, it's kinda like that but uh… how do I put this. Ugh what the heck, we've been friends long enough… I should have probably told you this a long time ago." She took a deep breath and turned to face a very confused Korra. "I've moved around a lot, not from house to house but more like… more like family to family."

She watched Korra's face change as she began putting two and two together.

"... Wait." Korra said hesitantly, her mind whirring. She thought she got it, but she didn't want to upset her friend "... You mean you're-?"

"A foster kid, yeah." Kuvira cut in, wringing her hands hesitantly. She hadn't expected to be talking about this so soon, but it was as if the floodgates had opened and it just came spilling out of her. "I've just been moved from one family to another, I didn't get to stay for long before they just got bored of me..." She swallowed. She could feel herself getting upset, it was embarrassing. Nevertheless, she kept going. "I never wanted friends to come over, to see that I wasn't normal like they were. I just told them I had a family, just like they did. I didn't want them making fun of me, I didn't need that. I had such a tough reputation to uphold and I just… ugh. Just the thought of them finding out I had a weakness, something that made me different from everyone else… I couldn't stand it."

Hugging her knees to her chest, she avoiding looking directly at her friend as her eyes began watering slightly. "Yes, I changed and grew up, but it didn't make much of a difference. I was still looked at as a problem. A broken child from a broken home who had no future. Some of them tried to 'save' me, but all they did was look down on and pity me. The others, they just ignored me. It was like I was just an invisible lodger."

She let out a shaky breath, trying her hardest not to cry. She shouldn't be doing this. Being vulnerable wasn't what she was all about. Ever since she and Korra had met she'd been nothing but the stable, unshakable friend who never showed weakness. She opened her mouth again to continue, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Looking up she saw Korra looking at her. It wasn't a pitying look as she had expected, but a caring one.

"Kuvira..." Korra said gently, squeezing the older girl's shoulder and offering her a small smile. It had taken her a good minute to process all the information she had been given, but now she knew what to do.

"I'm not really good with words, but I just want to say this. You're not weird or abnormal for having the life you do. Sure, I don't know what it's like to go through what you've been through, but that doesn't mean I can't be there for you. You're my best friend - you've helped me out so much and given me the strength to be myself. I look up to you, so much. Sure the swearing might be a little bit much at times, but that's just part of what makes you, well, you!"

She grinned, patting Kuvira on her back before her expression shifted back to a more serious one. "I get now why you wouldn't want me to come visit you, but know that me finding this out about you doesn't change how I feel, doesn't change our friendship. We're friends regardless of where we come from or what we do with our lives, alright?"

There was a brief silence before Kuvira sniffed, trying her best to stop her watering eyes from spilling over.

"...Thanks." She managed to choke out, blinking her eyes rapidly. Korra smiled warmly in response.

"Anytime, bestie." She replied. "And like it or not, you're getting yourself a hug now." She wrapped her arms around Kuvira and squeezed gently, leaning her head on the older girl's shoulder.

Kuvira chuckled quietly, shaking her head.

"Dork." She said half-heartedly.

"You know you love it reeeaaally." Came Korra's teasing reply, which caused Kuvira to snort and playfully shove Korra in return.

"Yeah sure, whatever. You get a free pass with that one. Next time you won't be so lucky."

The pair of them chuckled for a moment, the stress and worry of earlier dissipating as quickly as it came.


	12. Exploration and Adventure

_**As I promised yesterday, here's the next chapter! I've already got the chapter after this up and running, but I'm gonna be holding back so I can get back into a better sense of pacing.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

A small pebble bounced across the pathway and onto the grassy verge, having been caught on the heel of Korra's shoe as she purposefully strode down the gravel pathway. Her hands shoved in the pockets of her blazer; she glanced around curiously, clearly not familiar with her surroundings, and nervous as she really wasn't supposed to be there. Sure, it was lunch time, but she wasn't supposed to be leaving the school grounds during school hours, ever. Then why was she out there? Well, when she had been texting Kuvira that morning as the older girl had been off of school that day. (She had finally got a phone. It had taken a couple of years of begging but she was finally given one. It was a small, square brick of a thing that could barely send texts or make calls, and could just about play a pixelated game of snake, but Korra loved it.)

Korra had presumed that she was off sick, but an hour or so into classes she got a text from her friend saying that she had something for her, so if she really wanted to hang out then they could meet on the park behind the school for lunch. As it turned out, Kuvira did like to enjoy the feeling of skiving occasionally. It didn't surprise Korra in the slightest, the only thing that did worry her though was getting caught off-site by a teacher. She'd normally not run the risk but at this point it was either this or eat lunch on her own. Of course she chose the former, she hadn't made any effort to make any friends aside from Kuvira and she wasn't about to start now. Her parents had berated her for focusing so much energy into one friend, that she shouldn't 'put all her eggs in one basket' but she ignored them. She was only going to be there for a few more years, why bother making any new friends?

When she came to a break in the trees she was pleased to spot the older girl lounging on a slightly crummy looking old bench at the other end of the field. When they locked eyes, however, Korra noticed that her friend was quick to drop something on the ground and crush it underfoot. She was confused for a moment but when she approached the older girl, she wrinkled her nose as the smell gave her friend away.

Kuvira had clearly noticed Korra's expression, and was casually avoiding eye contact. Korra sighed.

"Were you smoking again?"

"Uh… I have no idea what you're talking about…" Kuvira said in an attempt to sound guiltless, but the evidence was undeniable. Korra just rolled her eyes and took a seat beside her.

"You know I can smell it, right? Ugh, anyway. You told me you were going to quit."

Kuvira let out an irritated huff and shook her head. "Yeah I know, I've had enough of the lectures from the parents, I don't need to hear it from you too, ok? For fucks sake..."

Korra raised an eyebrow but relented and instead took a seat beside her friend. The more Kuvira swore around her the less it affected her.

"So." She said as she leaned back in her seat. "Why'd you call me all the way out here? You said you had something for me?" Her tone was hesitant. Sure, Kuvira was always well meaning when it came to her 'gifts', but sometimes they were more trouble than they were worth. Take last month for example; Kuvira had given her, of all things, a packet of condoms. When Korra had attempted to return the items, flustered beyond words, Kuvira refused with a grin, saying that ' _if she was to give in to any of the hormonal guys around her it was better to be safe than sorry_ '. Why Kuvira had suddenly decided to be her sex ed teacher was beyond her, especially since she herself had shown no interest in any guy she'd come into contact with at the school, but something told her that the older girl was speaking from experience. So she kept them.

Then they fell out of her bag when she was getting out her homework. At the kitchen table. In front of her mum.

This lead to one of the most uncomfortable conversations of Korra's teenage life. She had kept insisting she had no plans on using them any time soon, if at all, but her mum had continued her long, detailed lecture on the importance of protection and waiting until she was ready. If this wasn't bad enough it only got worse when her dad came home later that evening and was told about the incident. He, too, felt that he needed to put in his own two cents about the matter, much to Korra's mortification. In the future she'd most likely look back and be thankful that her parents were able to be so comfortable talking to their child about sexual matters, but in the moment and for a few days after, she just wanted the ground to open up beneath her and swallow her.

Therefore, as she sat on the bench beside Kuvira, she couldn't help but eye her worriedly. Kuvira noticed the expression and laughed, ruffling the darker skinned girl's hair playfully.

"Hey now, don't look at me like that! This is nothing but a helpful gesture. I mean it." She continued as Korra's eyes narrowed. Seeing that her friend was still suspicious, she grumbled to herself and fished something out of her bag, handing the bundle of black fabric over to Korra.

The younger girl blinked and stared at the screwed up item, still confused. "Uh… thanks?" She said, slowly picking the item over.

"Don't worry, it's not going to explode." Kuvira said with a chuckle. "You remember that time where you were complaining about having to wear a skirt? Well, you've now got a pair of trousers, courtesy of yours truly."

Korra stared at Kuvira for a moment before opening up the bundle to reveal that it was, indeed, a pair of trousers. She blinked for a moment.

"Wait… where did you get these?" She asked, perplexed.

"Eh, took 'em from one of the guys at home." Kuvira replied, holding up a hand when she noticed Korra opening her mouth. "And before you go on to lecture me about how I shouldn't be stealing and all that crap, just know that they go through so many pairs of trousers in a year that one pair going missing is hardly going to be noticed. Besides, those ones are too short for them now anyways, I swear, guys grow like weeds." She chuckled. "Just try them on, let's see if they fit, huh?"

Korra blinked. "What, right now?" She asked, flushing a little in embarrassment. Kuvira nodded.

"You don't have to worry about exposing yourself, just pull them on under your skirt, it's no big deal."

With a hesitant nod, Korra got up from her seat. She glanced about her before lowering the trousers and stepping into them, pulling them up over her shoes and fastening them at her waist. They didn't seem too bad, so she quickly unzipped her skirt and pulled it off, now able to adjust the trousers accordingly. She could probably do with a belt, but other than that, they fitted pretty well. It felt pretty weird with her legs being covered like that, but for some reason, it also made a lot of sense. She grinned and turned to Kuvira, who was sat with her arms folded and a smug smirk on her lips.

"You like 'em I take it?" She said, watching her companion as she began walking back and forth, giggling a little to herself.

The younger girl nodded, wanting to give Kuvira a hug but stopping herself, instead grinning wider.

"They fit great, thanks!" She exclaimed cheerfully, all worries about being off of school grounds finally leaving her mind. That is, until Kuvira spoke again.

"Glad you like it. Now, since I've been a good friend and helped you out, would you mind doing something for me in return?"

Korra paused.

"...What do you mean by that?" She asked hesitantly, to which Kuvira's smirk widened.

"Skip your last class and come hang out with me."

There was silence for a moment as Korra took in what she had said. Surely she was joking, right? She'd never tried to get Korra in trouble before so why would she start now? She let out a small laugh but it soon faded when Kuvira raised an eyebrow and looked her dead in the eye. Oh, so she _was_ serious.

She'd never made any sort of attempt to skip class before; sure, the thought had crossed her mind but the risk of being found out would always outweigh her desire. Kuvira seemed to read her mind and gave another smirk.

"Look." She said as she stood up and stretched. "I know you're always a proper goody two shoes and all that, but look at it this way: I know your schedule, you've got Mrs Rakesh fifth period, and you know damn well that woman takes little to no notice of what goes on in her class. All she does is put on some random video on some kind of historical topic and sits there. She doesn't even take register, remember?"

Korra hesitantly nodded after a moment of silence. She couldn't help but see where Kuvira was coming from. Mrs Rakesh clearly didn't want to be there just as much as the students did, and every time, no matter what, she had never seen her take the register even once. Therefore that would mean that her absence from the lesson would go completely unnoticed. That was somewhat tempting.

Kuvira, seeing her friend's change of mind, speaking once more.

"And think about it this way. That's one less lesson with that prick Tahno." Which was, again, true; despite having toned down his pestering over time, having little to no punishment for his actions during that lesson meant he would have a field day, being a general pain in Korra's backside and really getting under her skin.

It was that that finally swayed Korra; she let out a puff of air and looked her friend in the eye.

"...Alright, I'll do it." She said, to which Kuvira grinned and slapped her on the back with a laugh.

"See? I knew you'd see it my way eventually. Don't look so worried! I'm not gonna get you into any trouble."

 _That_ Korra seriously doubted, but regardless, the idea of getting out of school and spending some time with her best friend really did sound like the perfect plan. Speaking of plans…

"What do you have in mind then?" She asked as she picked up her bag, the desire to eat the ham sandwich most likely squashed at the bottom of her bag now long gone.

As the two of them fell into step beside each other, Kuvira thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Eh, nothing really."

Korra paused

"Nothing? Come on you can't expect me to skip class just for nothing!" She eyed Kuvira in surprise to which the older girl chuckled softly and shook her head

"Look, sometimes when it comes to this sorta situation, anything is better that school; regardless of whether you have a plan or not. However, since you seem insistent on at least _some_ kind of direction, we'll go in _there_."

She pointed ahead of them where, across the road and between the trees, Korra could make out a small line of shops. It appeared that the one Kuvira was pointing to specifically was a small, rather run down looking shop front; it was only when they got closer that Korra was able to make out the faded blue lettering over the door.

"Happy Time News?" She asked hesitantly as they crossed the road, Kuvira taking the lead.

"I know it looks shady, but relax! This place fine, loads of students come here after school to buy junk food and all that kinda crap." She grinned "plus their sweet selection is pretty sick, it's a full on pick and mix."

Kuvira herself wasn't all too fussed when it came to sweets…. She didn't really enjoy sugar, but she knew darn well that Korra was the total opposite. Many people had a sweet tooth, but Korra had a whole mouth of sweet teeth, and it showed. The minute she heard the words 'pick and mix', Korra's eyes lit up. Opening her bag she rummaged about in it for a moment before grabbing a handful of change she had left over from her fortnightly allowance. It wasn't much, a few pounds at most, but hopefully it would be enough for her to get at least some form of sugary confection.

The door swung open when she pushed on it, causing the small bell above the doorway to let out a sharp clanging sound. Behind the counter sat an old, slightly balding man with a pair of grey glasses balanced precariously on his slightly bulbous nose. He glanced up at the sound and only offered a brief nod, followed by a narrowing of the eyes when Korra gave him a polite smile in greeting.

Kuvira just rolled her eyes and guided her friend to the left hand side of the shop

"Don't mind him." She said quietly. "This is a family run business. When the son's running things it's a lot more laid back, but that's the dad, and that guy's been working here years; the amount of times he's caught students from our school stealing is ridiculous."

Korra raised an eyebrow. "Hmm… why do I get the feeling you were one of those students?"

"Eh… maybe..." Kuvira replied, giving Kora a toothy grin. "But not any more, trust me, last time he caught me he threatened to ban me from the store; needless to say I behaved."

Korra snorted. "You? Behave? I find that hard to believe."

"Look, believe what you want, but this place is the only shop local to the school that sells good food at a decent price, there was no way I was going to forfeit that all over a drink and a bag of wotsits." Kuvira replied as she grinned and picked up a couple of cans of 'relentless'. "You gonna buy anything or what?"

Korra just sighed, giving her friend a playful shove in response.

A few minutes later both girls left the shop, Kuvira cracking open a can while Korra eagerly dug into the paper bag stuffed full of sweets. She'd just had enough change, which she'd had to rummage for in her bag at the till. She didn't like keeping a cashier waiting, especially one that was eyeing her suspiciously the entire time. Thankfully all went well and she was able to gorge herself on the sweets that, up to this point, had been carefully regulated by her parents. They'd always cared about her health, her mum mostly, and as a result she was usually only given a certain 'allowance' of sweets she could have every month. Some might call it controlling, but it had helped Korra out in the long run as she'd remained fit and healthy throughout her childhood. Now that she had been introduced to an unregulated supply of food, however... There was a huge possibility that that might change.

Now that she had had her sugar fix she wasn't really sure what they were to do next. Lunch hadn't finished yet so part of her thought about returning back to school before the bell rang… but then again, she would be sitting in a classroom doing nothing instead of spending time with her best friend.

As they stood just to the left of the shop entrance, Kuvira took a swig of her drink and broke the silence.

"Right, we've got what we need, fancy having a little adventure?"

Korra looked up at her, brow furrowed slightly in curiosity. She carefully chewed, finishing her sugar-laden mouthful before responding, her head tilted to one side.

"Adventure?… I don't know about that."

"Again with the hesitation? Come on Korra, You've told me _time_ _and_ _time_ _again_ about how much you used to loved playing around both inside and out, what's stopping you now?"

"... Because an adventure with you sounds like it'd end up involving one or both of us getting into trouble."

Kuvira couldn't really argue with that; she was the exact opposite of a model student, but a big part of her didn't want to get her friend in trouble. That was the thing with Korra that made her different than any of the friends Kuvira had previously had: she actually felt the desire to care for her. Whether that was because she was younger than her or that she clearly seemed more vulnerable to the hectic world of secondary school and beyond… It was odd, but she didn't want to change that. So with that in mind she racked her brains before an idea struck her.

"Right, I know where we're going, follow me!" She exclaimed, grabbing Korra's free hand and yanking her down the road. Korra would have protested that she didn't have much of a choice since the older girl's hand was clamped around her wrist, but the surprise caught her off guard, and she instead found herself hurrying to keep pace while also trying to not get her arm dislocated… Damn Kuvira was stronger than she looked.

At the top of the long road Kuvira made a left, briskly passing a small, dilapidated church. Beyond that, the road seemed to have almost disappeared, only a small dirt track remaining which was dry and dusty from the sun. Finally feeling them slowing down, Korra panted as she attempted to catch her breath; upon realizing her young friend was feeling a little out of breath, Kuvira released her wrist and turned to her with a grin as she slowed down fully to a casual walk.

"Not much of an athlete huh?" She asked teasingly, to which Korra narrowed her eyes. How Kuvira was still able to outrun her despite being a smoker she'd never know.

"...No." She muttered, pouting, which caused Kuvira to grin wider and throw an arm around the shorter girl's neck as she fell in step beside her.

"It's worth it, trust me. This place we're going to? It's off the beaten track, like, literally" She gestured to the pathway they were heading up; to call it even that would be an overstatement, it was more like a small line of trodden down grass and other vegetation. "Not a lot of people know about it, so I'm able to come up here and just do whatever without much consequence."

"...Consequence? Do you mean like that?" Korra asked flatly, gesturing to the sign up ahead that stated in bold black letters: 'PRIVATE PROPERTY' with a brief description of what could happen to any trespassers caught on the land.

Kuvira eyed it for a moment, then shrugged. "Eh, they don't actually do anything, I've been up here loads of times and I've only been chased off once… at least, I _think_ it was just the once."

Korra groaned.

"Seriously...? You said we weren't going to go anywhere that would get me in trouble!"

"And we won't!" Kuvira replied as she stepped over what appeared to be the remnants of old chicken wire fencing. "I've been here enough times to know where the safe spots are; all we gotta do is stick to the eastern side of the forests that's nearest to the area of farmland that's been left to go follow, so there won't be any farmers driving too close to our location to see us."

Once again, Korra had to pause for thought. However, at this point she was done with worrying about her friend's antics over and over again, so she shrugged. Besides, there was a part of her that missed goofing off in the great outdoors, it reminded her of when she was little.

"Fiiiine..." She said with a huff before following Kuvira up into the heavily wooded area. Despite her reservations, she couldn't help but find the area rather beautiful. Autumn was starting, so the leaves above them had begun the steady change in colour from green to various shades of yellows, reds, and oranges. It was also surprisingly warm for that time of year, which enabled the younger girl to take her time while viewing her surroundings.

Kuvira, however, had different ideas, striding ahead instead in a purposeful manner. She would occasionally glance behind just to make sure her friend was keeping up with her and grin a little to herself; it was clear that any stress or reservations Korra once had were now long gone, meaning the situation was finally a calm one.

Having been looking about her absentmindedly, Korra didn't notice Kuvira stopping and so bumped into her, letting out a small yelp of surprise. Kuvira just snorted and shook her head as she looked over her shoulder.

"You should look where you're going, shorty." She said teasingly, then continued before Korra had a chance to protest. "This is a pretty decent spot, I've been here several times." Korra looked over at the small clearing partially overrun by shrubbery. It didn't look like anything too special, until her eyes alighted on a small patch of blackened earth in the centre.

"Kuvira… do you light fires here?" She asked, her eyes having slightly widened as she spoke. Kuvira responded with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

"Only a couple of times. I like fire..." she trailed off when she noticed the slight fear on Korra's face. "...In a controlled environment, of course. I always make sure to stamp it out before I leave; I may be a troublemaker but I'm not _that_ kinda girl." Heading towards the remnants of the firepit she dropped her bag beside it and began rummaging inside. "I've got a lighter in here somewhere, you want to get the wood?" When she heard nothing she turned to Korra who was stood stationary a few feet away, brow furrowed. The older girl clicked her fingers, startling her before speaking again. "Hey, earth to Korra? Geez, what is up with you today?"

Korra blinked and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Uh… sorry, just got a little distracted is all." She didn't want to admit it, but she'd always had a certain… _curiosity_... regarding fire. She'd never really been allowed anywhere near them so naturally, she was now interested. Kuvira rolled her eyes.

"Fair enough… Now, how about you get me that wood? I'll need small twigs to start with, then we'll slowly build up to the bigger stuff as the fire starts, alright?" Korra nodded, placing her bag beside Kuvira's and heading off into the woods. Despite her initial hesitation, this was starting to become sort of fun. She found herself feeling almost gleeful as she collected up the kindling, returning with most likely far too much of it and dumping it beside a rather surprised Kuvira.

Taking in Korra's now rather dishevelled appearance: her dirt-covered hands and trousers that had a variety of leaves attached to them, Kuvira grinned.

"Well damn, you don't mess around huh? Come on, let's get this fire lit." She gestured for Korra to come closer and the pair sat together, Korra watching her friend curiously as she pulled a bag of cotton wool from her pocket, followed by a small tub of vaseline.

"Best way to start a fire." Kuvira stated, having taken notice of Korra's confusion. "Found a few videos online about outdoor survival when I realized a lighter wasn't enough." Popping open the tub, she grasped a bundle of cotton wool and used it to scoop out a substantial blob of vaseline. She then placed it on two charred logs that she had pushed into the centre, before handing her lighter to Korra. "Want to do the honours?" She asked, holding back a smirk as she saw the younger girl's eyes light up. "Just be careful, don't hold your hand too close okay? Once the spark hits the vaseline it should go up pretty quickly."

Korra nodded, clasping the lighter firmly in her hand. It took her a few tries, and some teasing from Kuvira, but she finally got it to work and reached down, her face screwing up slightly in concentration and hesitation before the small flame finally reached its target.

Once the small flame began spreading, Kuvira grabbed a fistful of the smaller branches and held them over it until they began to catch. She then gently placed them on top and went to pick up another bundle. Slowly but surely, the two of them built the fire up until Kuvira deemed it sustainable enough, and sat down beside it.

Korra was transfixed by the flames, clearly fascinated by the way the wood blackened and twisted under the fire's touch; she would occasionally chuck something else in just to watch how it burned, whether that be a fresh leaf or rotten piece of bark. Kuvira chuckled knowingly, finding her friend's interest somewhat endearing… others would have found it more worrisome than anything, but not her. She knew Korra.

"Hey, if you want to burn more things on it, why not try these?" She asked, chucking a packet of… something Korra's way. The girl in question looked up in time to get hit in the face by the bulky projectile. She let out a squawk of surprise and flailed for a moment, grasping at the item while Kuvira's shoulder's shook, eyes glinting with mirth as she tried not to laugh out loud at her behaviour.

After shooting a glare her way, Korra looked down at the package in her hands and almost instantly forgot her initial annoyance

"Marshmallows?" She asked, surprised. "But you don't like sweets… did you buy these for me?"

Kuvira shrugged as her young friend looked over at her. "Well yeah, I know you love candy, and besides, what would a fire be without roasting some marshmallows over it huh?"

Now that was something Korra had never tried before - sure, she'd seen it done in movies and such, but it had never been something she'd gotten the chance to try herself. Grinning, she thanked Kuvira and opened the packet before glancing about. Finding a suitable stick, she picked out one of the squishy confections and pushed it onto the end before holding it over the fire.

"Make sure not to hold it over there too long." Kuvira said casually. "Otherwise it'll burn. I don't like marshmallows as it is, and burnt ones are even worse." Korra gave a nod, twisting the stick so that the sweet at the end of it was heated on all sides. When it started to hiss and the lowest edge began turning black, she quickly pulled it back from the heat of the fire.

"Make sure to blow on it!" Kuvira said a little sharper than usual. "It's hot, remember?"

Korra blinked, then chuckled. "Okay, _mum,_ since when were you the logical one here?" The only response was a sigh and an eye roll from Kuvira which made Korra chuckle again. Nevertheless she did give the marshmallow a slight blow before biting into it, eyes widening in surprise at how the outside had remained solid, yet the inside had become a soft, gooey liquid. Quickly she munched down the rest and picked up another, starting the process all over again much to Kuvira's amusement.

… In hindsight, having already eaten so many sweets beforehand then chowing down on half a bag of marshmallows really didn't seem like the good idea it had once been, but Korra had done so anyway. Now, almost an hour later however, she was _definitely_ regretting it. Letting out a slight groan she held her stomach, grimacing as the sugary concoction burbled away inside her. To Kuvira, this was yet another reason why she herself didn't indulge in anything that sweet and clearly she found the situation more entertaining than anything.

Reaching over and picking up the packet she waved it in Korra's direction

"Sure you don't want any more?" She asked, a shit-eating grin on her face. Korra glared and groaned again, shaking her head as her stomach grumbled loudly. "Well alright, I'll put them in your bag then, you'll want them later, right?" She winked and Korra pouted. She was about to respond when the grin left Kuvira's face and she looked upwards.

"Wait, you hear that?"

"...Hear what?" Korra asked, prompting Kuvira to shush her. In the silence, she heard what sounded like the low droning of an engine, but it sounded… Odd? She gave Kuvira a questioning look, to which her older friend responded.

"Sounds like a helicopter"

… Okay…? Korra didn't have a clue why a helicopter would be such a dramatic thing, but it obviously set Kuvira off. Seeing Korra's confusion, Kuvira continued. "You know this is the countryside, right? Means a lot of places are hard to get to by road… therefore, it makes sense for a lot of services to have helicopters, like ambulances… or police."

"...What makes you think it's anything like that?" Korra asked, definitely surprised now. "There are helicopters in the sky all the time, why should this be any different?"

"Well..." Kuvira hesitated, then gestured to the smoke from their fire that was spiraling up into the sky. "Because people lighting fires in places they shouldn't could be seen as a major fire risk… no matter how careful they are about it."

There was a silence as Korra stared at her friend. It took a moment, but the nervous look on Kuvira's face made her put two and two together.

"...Kuvira… are you saying this has happened before? To you?"

Kuvira nodded twice, which prompted the younger girl to jump up and grab her bag, ignoring the protests of her bloated stomach. "Then why the hell are we still here?! Put the fire out and let's go!" Once again, Kuvira nodded and got swiftly to her feet, kicking dirt over the remains of the fire and quenching it out for good with the remains of her drink. By this point the engine noises overhead were getting louder, causing Korra's heart to drop to her stomach as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "Let's go!" She cried, wanting to run ahead but she had honestly no clue which way was back until Kuvira grabbed her wrist once again and pulled her alone with her.

"Why didn't you tell me this had happened before?!" Korra shouted breathlessly as the pair bolted between the trees.

"I did!" Kuvira shouted back. "I said I'd been chased out a couple of times!"

"I thought you meant by people, not a freaking _helicopter_!"

"We'll talk about this later, just go!" Kuvira grunted as she skidded round a large tree stump, almost tripping in the process.

Before they knew it, they were back out in the open again. Kuvira came to a halt but Korra kept running, only to be tugged back by her friend. She turned around, panic in her eyes.

"Why did you stop? We need to get out of the area! We need to-!"

The words died on her lips as she locked eyes with Kuvira, who was now sporting a rather sheepish looking grin. When Korra glared at her she couldn't help but snort.

"...Yeahh… About that… You know there's a private runway behind these woods right?"

Korra frowned, not understanding the significance the words apparently held. "...And...?"

"Aircraft take off and land on it all the time, much like that one." She gestured to the sky, where the helicopter was now visible. It didn't have any police markings on it whatsoever… In fact, it looked like a regular helicopter…

Wait...

That's when it clicked.

"Kuvira… was this some kind of prank?"

The fact that Kuvira's mouth was curling upwards in a smirk and her shoulders were starting to shake was all the answer Korra needed. She glowered and strode back to her friend.

"You absolute ass!" She shouted, pushing the taller girl back as she jabbed her finger into her chest. "You scared the heck out of me, it's not fair and... and- Don't laugh at me!"

Kuvira snorted as she shook her head, giggling at the angry expression on Korra's face.

"Aww come on now! You have to admit that was funny, I mean.. The look on your face sure was!" She stepped back and stuck out her tongue, taunting her young friend. It worked, Korra narrowed her eyes and launched herself at her with the intention of shoving her back, however the momentum carrying her forward was greater than she had expected, and soon lead to Kuvira falling backwards. It caught them both off-guard and the pair yelped in surprise before hitting the grass with a thud.

It took a moment to get over the surprise, but Korra was determined to continue reprimanding her friend for such a cruel joke; she opened her eyes with the intention of wrestling an apology out of her, but her mouth opened and remained that way, silent. Kuvira's breathing, fast and shallow, was hitting Korra's face in waves of warmth; as she continued to remain stationary, she became increasingly more aware of just how close they were and the position they were in. It appeared that in an effort to to remain upright, Korra had widened her stance which had now lead to her legs being either side of Kuvira's waist, straddling her. Her hands, still shaking from the adrenaline, were gripping tightly to the other girl's shirt, closer than they probably should be to her chest.

Korra's heart, having not been given the chance to slow down from their panicked run, was now thrumming in her ears; her face began heating up, which went unrealized until Kuvira raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"Uh… you okay? You're gone bright red." She tilted her head. "You're not gonna be sick on me, are you? All those marshmallows plus running probably wasn't a good idea… darn I should have thought that through." She muttered the last part to herself, but they were so close Korra could hear every word. She swallowed and sat bolt upright, clamping both hands over her face in embarrassment.

"Uh… n-no! I mean, I'm fine I just-" She looked about frantically then realized she was still sitting on Kuvira and jumped up off her like a jackrabbit. "...Let's just go..." Holding out a hand she gestured for Kuvira to take it, which she did very hesitantly, before getting up slowly with Korra's help. Right away Korra let go of her hand and reached down to pick up her bag once again, trying to hide her still very pink face behind her hair.

"...You sure you're okay?" Kuvira asked, one eyebrow still raised. "Look, if that whole thing really did scare you that much, I'm sorry, it was just meant to be a little bit of fun-"

"I'm fine Kuv." Came a quiet reply, Korra swallowing and turning to look at her friend with an awkward smile as she tried to calm down. "The fall just… made me jump is all."

Now that really didn't make sense to Kuvira at all, and she was definitely confused, but it was clear Korra didn't want to talk about it so she just shrugged her shoulders and slung her bag on her back once more and patted the smaller girl on the shoulder

"Alright fair enough… so you had fun right? Nothing like a bit of adrenaline to make your day, huh?" She asked, tilting her head as a familiar grin spread across her lips. Korra looked over at her with narrowed eyes before snorting and shaking her head in confusion and amusement.

"Ugh… fuck you." She said flatly, sticking out her tongue at the other girl.

Kuvira's eyebrows shot up in surprise before she laughed.

"Damn! Didn't think you'd end up being such a potty mouth! Guess I'm rubbing off on you huh?"

"...You could say that." Korra continued as they walked back down the path. Sure the whole thing had been kinda funny, but what just happened… it felt, well, off. She'd wrestled with Kuvira many times beforehand, so why did it feel so weird this time?

As Kuvira chatted away, oblivious to the situation, Korra shoved her hands in her pockets and stared at the ground; her brows were knitted together and her mind was whirring. As much as she hated to admit it, she really needed some time to think about this, whatever 'this' was.

The heck was going on?


	13. Who We Are

"Hey, earth to Korra? You in there?"

The brunette visibly jumped at the sensation of a firm hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of the worry-filled trance she was in. Looking up she met the gaze of a rather confused Kuvira who had sat up from her spot leant against the trunk of a tree, head tilted slightly as she watched her younger friend.

"Oh! Yeah! I-I'm fine-!" She replied after a brief moment of silence as she gave what she hoped was a convincing smile. It wasn't. Kuvira was still staring at her as her eyes narrowed.

"Hm... I kinda doubt that..." Her flat tone of voice a clear indication that she was still suspecting something was wrong.

Korra wanted to speak about what was going on it her brain, she really did, but she didn't know how to approach the conversation. Ever since the incident several days prior, her mind had been in a constant state of disarray. It had been confusing at first, her logical side unable to fully comprehend exactly what had happened, but slowly and steadily it turned into frustration. How on earth could something so brief and trivial send her mind spiralling? It really didn't make any sense; all she'd done was fall on top of her friend, after all, as well as gotten physically close. They'd mucked about many times before with the amount of play fighting they did - Kuvira _did_ have a knack of pushing Korra's buttons in such a way that both irritated and amused her, which would result in them pushing and pulling at each other in a seemingly violent interaction. Of course, that was never the case, they would always be laughing throughout.

Pulling her gaze away from Kuvira's narrowed eyes, she took another sip of her drink as she silently prayed that something would happen - that the bell would ring and she would be able to remove herself from the tense situation without much hassle… but to no avail. Instead, Kuvira's hand remained on her shoulder, squeezing it.

"Korra… You know I'm not stupid, something's going on in that head of yours and I won't be able to help you unless you tell me."

"I-"

"And don't even think of lying and saying you don't want my help because that's a heaping pile of bullshit. I know you, Kor, you've got that look on your face that says you need to get something off your chest. Come on, you know you can trust me."

"...I know..."

"Then come on, out with it." Kuvira's tone was as blunt as it often was, but when the younger girl looked back up at her she could see the worry in her eyes. The more she hung out with the rebellious teen the more she realized she had a softer side to her. Of course, Kuvira would deny that to anyone who asked, but Korra knew otherwise. She knew it in her heart of hearts that Kuvira wouldn't judge her for the state her mind was in, but what could she say? If she continued to shut her out she knew it would only be a matter of time before tensions would creep higher and higher… She didn't want a repeat of primary school and she would be damned if she refused to learn from her mistakes.

She grumbled a little to herself, cursing herself for being an anxious mess and overthinking things; all she had to do was tell Kuvira how she was feeling and everything would be fine…

Thing was, she wasn't exactly sure how she was feeling.

"...Okay..." She finally responded; her tone one of reluctance. Watching as Kuvira sat up a little straighter, she drummed her fingers on her knees nervously. "I'll talk, but later- No, no, wait!" She quickly said, holding up a hand as the taller of the two groaned in irritation "This isn't me avoiding things. I just need a little time to figure a few things out. But we will talk, I promise. You're my best friend and I don't want to push you away."

The reply appeased Kuvira apparently, as the fairer of the two gave a short nod and leaned back against the tree. "Alright, but I'm holding you to that." She responded, fixing her braid and letting out a small huff.

Korra gave a small smile "Gotcha"

' _Why now? Seriously?'_

Korra sighed and tapped her foot impatiently as she ran her eyes over the text displayed on the board, the teacher waving their arms enthusiastically as they rambled on about something or other. She'd been so in her head that she'd completely forgotten about the promise she'd made in her lunch break, so she wouldn't have a lot of time to talk to Kuvira between the end of the lesson and the time the buses showed up. What made matters worse was that the damn teacher had decided that they absolutely had to use up every second of lesson time. Usually in the afternoon most teachers were lenient and finished 5 minutes or so before the day officially ended, giving students a small window of time to head out and make it to the front of the school for their various modes of transportation. Granted, that time wouldn't have been enough to tell Kuvira _everything_ , but she would be able to get across at least some of what was going on and assure her nothing was wrong. At least, that was the plan. She still wasn't 100% sure what she was going to say still, but she knew she needed to say something at the very least. There was no use in prolonging this any more than she already had.

When the bell finally rang she grabbed her books and shoved them in the bag just like her classmates, the teacher bleating about how _they_ are the ones to dismiss them, not the bell. Unsurprisingly there were several groans throughout the classroom, Korra's voice adding to the noises of irritation. Two minutes later (Korra knew the specifics as she had been fixated on the clock for every second they had been kept past hometime) they were finally released, all of them making every effort to leave the classroom as quickly as possible. The buses were already parked up and ready to go by the time Korra had bolted through the double doors and across the pavement. If she wasn't on it in the next minute she knew it would leave without her, so she broke into a sprint, dodging between the crowd of ambling students who had the luxury of lifts home in a family member's car before finally sliding through the doors of the bus. She had been just in time it seemed as the driver shot her a glare as she showed him her pass, then turned back to the road; the doors closed behind her with a creak as she walked down the aisle, staggering slightly as the vehicle began to move forward with a lurch. She heard a few giggles but brushed them off, already focused on the one seat she'd managed to claim as her own ever since she started riding this infernal deathtrap. Thankfully it was still free seeing as she'd been late, and she hopped up onto it, removing her rucksack and holding it in her lap. She felt guilty about having just accidentally ditched Kuvira like that and she knew what it looked like; she just hoped she'd understand. As she settled back into the worn fabric of the chair, there was a loud buzz in her blazer pocket. Jumping slightly she reached in and pulled out her phone, cringing a little at the message on the screen.

 _ **Kuvira (3:10 pm): Thought we were gonna talk?**_

Swallowing, Korra tapped out a quick reply

 _ **Korra (3:10 pm): Sorry! The teacher kept us back, I got out just in time to catch the bus**_

She hesitated before sending another

 _ **Korra (3:11 pm): I know it looks like I was avoiding you but it wasn't like that, I'm sorry. We can still talk. I'm not gonna break my promise!**_

 _ **Kuvira (3:12 pm): How? Like this? Or a phone call?**_

That made Korra pause for a moment. Sending it in text form would make things a lot easier… she could actually take her time and give a thought out response. As a small smile spread across her lips as she replied.  
 _ **  
Korra (3:15 pm): Texting might be better actually! You know how I am with words and all that, right?**_

 _ **Kuvira (3:19 pm): ... Fine. Spill.**_

Korra could practically _hear_ the sigh she knew her friend had made while replying and chuckled a little to herself, then froze when she realized she was still on the bus. She would have to open up about how she was feeling while sitting surrounded by hyperactive and nosey teenagers. This wasn't the place to do it but she needed to give Kuvira _something_ while she waited for the journey to end. She still felt frustrated. Why on earth was she dragging this out longer and longer? She still didn't know how to phrase what she wanted to say, so decided to go with something basic.

 _ **Korra (3:24 pm): It's about what happened last week. You know, when you pulled that prank on me and I pushed you over?**_

She had hesitated before pressing send, but then shoved the small device back in her pocket after putting it on silent. Whatever Kuvira would say could wait until she got home.

When the bus finally can to a rattling stop and Korra got out, she pulled out her phone; she stopped briefly and stared at the screen.

 _ **Kuvira (3:30 pm): Uh, yeah? I remember. Did I piss you off or something? You seemed okay when we left.**_

 _ **Kuvira (3:44 pm): Crap, are you actually mad? I genuinely didn't mean to scare you. It was just a bit of fun.**_

 _ **Kuvira (3:48 pm) Korra ffs reply will you?**_

Korra was surprised, she genuinely hadn't expected Kuvira to spam her with messages… But in hindsight, it was pretty stupid of her to start off with something so open-ended. She waited until she got into the house, closing the door and hurrying up the stairs.

 _ **Kuvira: (4:03 pm): Hello?**_

Korra sighed and fell onto her bed the minute she entered her room, staring at the screen for a moment she shook her head.

 _ **Korra (4:04 pm): I'm here! Sorry!**_

 _ **Korra (4:04 pm): No, I'm not mad, please don't think that okay? I'm just feeling… confused.**_

 _ **Kuvira (4:05 pm): Confused? About what?**_

Yet again Korra found herself hesitating. What could she say? How would she say it? Rolling over on her bed she let out a groan if frustration into her pillow before staring at the screen again. Don't overthink it, just type. She could do this.

 _ **Korra (4:08 pm): Just**_

 _ **Korra (4:08 pm): We were so close you know? Like... I was basically laying on you and it felt weird since we were just staring at each other and your face was RIGHT THERE. I don't know what the heck is going on in my mind because it's all I can think about. My stomach feels like it's twisting and full of knots and my face just gets all ... hot. I don't even know what to say to continue but you wanted to know so there you go...**_

Korra had paused, her thumb hovering over the send button briefly before she closed her eyes and pushed it down, cringing slightly as she felt her heartbeat almost in her ears. Could that have been worded better? Yes. But she didn't have time for that. She knew if she'd spent a second longer reading it through she would have just deleted it all and started again, or worse, not replied at all. Now she had to wait for a reply… As her mother had said many times before: 'A watched pot never boils', which Korra had never truly understood until that moment. The time she spent waiting for Kuvira's reply seemed to drag on and on, and she very nearly sent another quick message to ask if she was okay before suddenly her phone buzzed twice in her hand. She jumped, almost dropping the device in the process but managed to catch it before it fell to the floor. She hesitated and stared at the small envelope icon before swallowing and opening it.

 _ **Kuvira (4:12 pm): …**_

 _ **Kuvira (4:12 pm): Holy shit. This all makes so much more sense now… Korra, I don't know how to word this over text but don't feel bad about this, okay?**_

As Korra read through the message slowly her phone buzzed again

 _ **Kuvira (4:13 pm): Fuck it, I can't text you all this, I'm coming over**_

Korra's eyes widened. She sat up and quickly typed back. ' _Shit shit shit'_ she thought to herself. She wasn't going to do this, she couldn't.

 _ **Korra (4:14 pm): No no no no please don't! You can just text it okay? Please?**_

No response _ ****_

 _ **Korra (4:16 pm): Please Kuvira? You know I'm not good with dealing with my emotions and crap.**_

When a few more minutes passed she pushed the call button and held the device to her ear ' _c'mon pick up pick up! I know you're reading my texts!'_

The phone rang, and rang… and rang-

" _Korra, no, I'm coming over. This isn't something I can just… write. We need to talk about this face to face."_

"But I can't-! You know how I am when it comes to dealing with this kinda stuff, it's hard!"

" _Hard or not you'll have to do something about it Kor, sooner rather than later. I'll see you in a moment-"_

Korra panicked as she knew her friend was about to hang up.

"Kuvira! I know you're better with doing this face to face, but these are my feelings we're talking about here! If you were right here with me I'd shut down just like I have been doing all week. Please!"

For a brief moment there was silence, followed by a long, low sigh.

" _...Fine. Just gimme a sec, I'm just about out the door."_

 _ ***Click***_

The phone line went dead and Korra let out a sigh of relief as she lay back down on her bed. Holding her phone to her chest she closed her eyes briefly in an attempt to calm herself, which clearly was a pointless venture as her eyes shot open the second her phone buzzed once more.

Kuvira grumbled, shaking her head as she made her way slowly back up the long flight of stairs and down the hallway to the room she'd been given just over a year ago. It had been uncomfortable at first as it was much larger than what she was used to, already fully furnished and ready for her, which she was certainly not accustomed to; the families she stayed with usually just gave her the bare minimum which, despite being disheartening, had been something she had come to expect. It wasn't a lie that she'd been cagey, but this new family had gone out of their way to make her feel welcome without even once giving off the notion that it was out of pity. They were incredibly welcoming, and for once in her life, she had debated inviting company over.

The company of someone like Korra.

Looking down at the phone in her hand she bit her lip; speaking of… What the younger girl had told her made so much sense. The fact that she'd been shutting herself out of conversations as well as having just been generally jumpy now all pointed to one, very obvious fact.

Sighing, she closed the door behind her and began to type, brow furrowed in thought. She was always better at talking to someone when they were standing in front of her. That way she could read their moods and change how she was speaking depending on how they reacted; with texting though, she just had to say her piece and hope it was taken the right way. Why did she have to have a friend who was a polar opposite to her in regards to these social interactions? Finally, after typing, deleting and typing some more, she hit send.

 _ **Kuvira (4:26 pm): Right, I'm just gonna be straight up with you here. From what you told me I'm pretty damn sure I know what this is. You're probably going to freak out when I tell you what I think, but it's pretty obvious what's going on here.**_

Almost instantly she got a reply.

 _ **Korra (4:27 pm): What? What's obvious?**_

Drumming her fingers on the desk she was now sat at, Kuvira took a deep breath. If she was too subtle Korra wouldn't get it. The poor girl was oblivious to most things unless they hit her square in the face. Being blunt was the only option. She quickly typed out and sent her reply before she could overthink it.

 _ **Kuvira (4:30 pm): That you fancy me**_

Things were quiet for a moment, then her phone began to vibrate almost continuously.

 _ **Korra (4:34 pm): wHAT**_

 _ **Korra (4:34 pm): NO  
Korra (4:34 pm): That's stupid!  
Korra (4:35 pm): You can't say things like that just out of nowhere!**_

The outburst would have been amusing in any other situation, but right now all they did was make Kuvira sigh sadly. Denial was never a good thing. A few more panicked messages came through but she ignored them, instead beginning to formulate a proper response.

 _ **Kuvira (4:40 pm): Okay, calm down. I'm not judging you dude, promise, but think of it this way. What if it hadn't been me? What if it had been a guy you'd fallen on?**_

 _ **Kuvira (4:42 pm): You've seen all those crappy romantic movies. Girl trips and lands on top of guy. Guy is surprised then girl freaks out, getting all flustered before jumping up and apologizing profusely about how they were so clumsy while trying not to think about how close they were. It's a classic rom-com trope. Overused, yes, but still.**_

 _ **Korra (4:43 pm): shit**_

 _ **Korra (4:43 pm): shit shit shit sorry**_

 _ **Kuvira (4:44 pm): Korra calm down! This isn't a big deal.**_

 _ **Korra (4:46 pm): It's not that. My mum's calling me. She needs to talk about dad's birthday present. I forgot we were supposed to go shopping together.**_

Now, did Kuvira believe her? Not really. It seemed awfully convenient that her friend would have to leave and do something right in the middle of a very important conversation… But, she knew there was only so much a person could process in one go; maybe it would be beneficial for Korra to have some time to herself, to settle her mind. With a groan she shook her head.

 _ **Kuvira (4:50 pm): Alright. Fine. We'll talk later about this though**_

 _ **Korra (4:51 pm): Okay. See you!**_

When they'd exchanged goodbyes, the older girl got up from her chair and reluctantly dragged herself onto the bed. Placing the phone on the bedside table she lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling as her mind began to wander. Korra's clueless confession had definitely knocked her for six. The last thing she had expected was for her best friend to have a crush on her; however, in hindsight, it did make sense. The younger girl had shown zero interest romantically in any of the boys at school, even the ones Kuvira had found to be particularly appealing. She'd put it down to her friend just being a late bloomer and that was it… It didn't bother her in the slightest that her younger companion could quite possibly be attracted to women, her only concern was the fact that her interest was directed at her. She knew that she, herself, was as straight as an arrow, so if Korra were to attempt anything she knew she'd have to shoot her down.

Her worried thought process was interrupted by a soft knock on her door.

"Come in." She muttered, sitting up slightly as her eyes drifted to the door. A familiar face peeked around the corner and she smiled a little, recognising her foster sibling.

The younger girl slipped in and gently closed the door behind her.

"You alright?" She asked softly. "I heard you running about earlier and I thought you'd gone out. You sounded pretty stressed..." She trailed off, shifting from foot to foot.

Kuvira chuckled a little at her shyness. The girl had been the most forthcoming out of all her family when it came to attempting friendship, something Kuvira had been suspicious of initially, although gradually she came to realize her efforts were sincere.

"Eh… I'm alright. It's a mate of mine that's in a bit of a tough spot." She replied, reaching back and removing the hairband to begin unravelling her braid. "Thanks for asking though, I appreciate it."

"Okay… Are they alright now?"

Kuvira paused for a moment. Her automatic response would be to say yes, but a part of her began to wonder if talking about it with someone who was out of the loop might help things. She would have to keep it vague though, Korra's identity didn't need to be shared especially without her consent.

"Uh… it's kind of a weird situation." She confessed, giving the shorter girl a small smile. "I'm a bit confused myself, to be honest."

"Let me guess, you want to talk about it?"

Kuvira blinked, then chuckled softly. "Always the observant one, huh… well, if you're offering, I'd appreciate that." She patted the bed, to which the younger girl responded by walking over and gently taking a seat beside her. The pair sat in silence for a moment before Kuvira cleared her throat.

"Well… I don't know how much I can really say, but it's like this: I have this friend, she goes to the same school as me but she's a year below. Probably your age I'm guessing... Anyways. She's been acting really off lately and when I kept confronting her she would deflect the conversation or get cagey. I finally got her to talk to me over text and it turns out, uh..." She coughed, feeling a little awkward. "Something happened and she's been dealing with a lot of weird feelings. When she explained them to me it clicked that she might not be completely… straight, you know?" She decided to leave out the part about her being the possible destination for those feelings, she would only share so much. "I suggested it to her and she properly freaked out. Full on panic mode. I tried to calm her down but she said something about needing to go out shopping and left it at that. I'm sure she's avoiding continuing the subject but I know if she denies it it'll only make things worse!" Unable to stop herself she could feel the irritation growing in her voice as she became frustrated, but a gentle touch on her arm dissipated the tenseness in her muscles.

"Relax..." The other girl said gently. "Rewind a bit. Are you sure you're right about this?"

Kuvira nodded. "Mhm… the second the thought crossed my mind it made total sense. I just want to help her, you know?"

"Understandable… but, if she hasn't said it herself then you can't really presume anything. I know I don't know much about this kind of stuff, but surely if you were in that situation and were unsure about your sexuality, how would you feel if you had a friend pressuring you one way or another?"

"...You have a point..." Kuvira replied, clasping her hands together as she shifted in her seat "Guess I got a little caught up in the whole thing. I want her to know I won't judge her."

"And that's okay! You wanted to help and you did what you thought was right. If you want my advice though… it might be best to leave it for now. Think about it, we're all still kids. You got yourself all figured out pretty early, right? Maybe she'll take a lot longer, who knows. Just… wait it out for now; she probably needs a bit of space and time to figure out what's going on in her head. If she brings it up again? _Then_ make sure she knows you're supportive. If not? Just leave her be. No use in pressuring someone right?"

Kuvira couldn't help but snort. "Damn, you really are a smart one huh? If I'd have known you were such a philosopher I'd have come for advice from you sooner. How are you younger than me and yet so much more mature?"

There was a chuckle in response as the younger girl shook her head "Well, you know, having a mum who spent a lot of my childhood teaching me the importance of a moral compass definitely played a part in it. Also, being one of five kids has made an impact. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've had to step in to prevent arguments." She chuckled, then glanced over at the older girl. "Well, six kids I should say."

With a chuckle, Kuvira leaned back against the wall and glanced over at her current companion. "And now you're being all sentimental; you know, for someone named after a rock you're awful soft and mushy."

This time it was the younger girl's turn to snort. "Hey! It's not a rock, it's a gemstone, and a pretty one at that." She playfully shoved Kuvira's shoulder who laughed in return, holding up her hands and grinning

"Alright alright, cool it Opal, I'm just messing with you."


End file.
